Teenagers assaulted at fair in Wognum, Netherlands

“The adrenaline has worn off, and it’s really starting to hurt now.” Maaike’s son is in a lot of pain after being kicked and beaten several times on the street in Wognum last night. But that’s not all. “He’s afraid to run into them again.”

That is why Maaike prefers not to use her real name in the article, afraid of reprisals. “I don’t want them to visit us.” But she thinks it is important to tell the story, in the hope that more victims will come forward and report the crime.

‘You have to watch out’

“He went out alone and to his bicycle to go home. But on the street he was surrounded on both sides by boys, about seven. He walked through and paid no attention to them. But still them after him.”

Her son first gets a shoulder beating and is told ‘you have to watch out’. He ignores it, but the group of boys don’t ignore him. They follow him, kick him in the back, and finally punch him in the face.

“In the end he ran away and they didn’t come after him. Cycled away quickly and then called me,” says Maaike. They are at the hospital in the middle of the night. It soon becomes clear. “They said they didn’t even have to take a picture because they could already see it.”

Maaike’s son does not seem to be the only one who was hospitalized that night from the fair. At the Dijklander Hospital they encounter another victim. “The left side of his face was completely open, he was unconscious for half an hour and hit with an ambulance.”

More victims

Maaike decides to share her son’s story on Facebook, hoping that more victims will come forward. And that happens. In addition to the many reactions and improvements for her son, other mothers and an aunt also report.

For example, an 18-year-old boy was severely assaulted on the night from Thursday to Friday when he walked to his bicycle when he came out of the pub. His aunt says: “He was taken to the hospital by ambulance. His jaw was broken on both the left and right. So it was pretty beat up.”

Another mother reports that her son was assaulted in the toilet and was beaten up in the local pub. And yet another mother who reports that others tried to steal her son’s coat.

It was previously announced that several teenagers from Hoorn were assaulted on Thursday evening. Two girls were kicked off their bicycles while cycling home from the fair. Two boys walked in a bicycle tunnel in Hoorn burns after other boys spit fire with a lighter or can of deodorant.

Same group of guys?

“A lot of teenagers have already been tackled by this group of boys, it seems,” says Maaike after all the reactions she has received. “Names are known to the police. But they seem to get away with it, they have too little evidence. They must almost be caught red-handed,” she said several times to the police on Sunday.

“This group of boys terrorize the parties for the young people. They are only there to make a mess. Sad that it has to end like this every time.” She hopes that suspects will be arrested soon. “But a police officer said on the phone this afternoon that they must catch them red-handed, which means that there must be another victim.”

Maaike therefore hopes that more victims will report with her story. “Report as much as possible, then we are stronger.”

As if nothing happened

Maaike can only file a report with her son on Thursday morning. The police could only say on Sunday afternoon that a report was made that night around 1 a.m. An ambulance then visited the Raadhuisstraat, near Café Stam.

Earlier this week, the police reported about the incidents in Hoorn that they see no reason to believe that the same perpetrators are involved.

Anthony Stam, from Café Stam, was asked if he had any experience of riots or abuse. “There have been no riots with us. I wouldn’t know what happened at the fair.”

Arjan Blokker, who organizes the fair in Wognum, was busy cleaning up the fairground attractions on Sunday evening. “I can’t confirm anything, but I can’t deny it either. I haven’t heard anything yet, not even from others. I assume that will come up in the evaluation.”

Maaike hopes that one day her son will be able to enjoy going out again. “It’s intense for him, for us, for his friends. They have no idea what they’re doing.”