A father who kills his seven week old baby. It happened in Breda, but that is not a unique case. Lawyer Job Knoester has assisted several suspects of child homicide in recent years. Also Tilburger Umit T., who shook his own daughter to death. According to him, these people are not unscrupulous: “Those parents are not only perpetrators, but also victims.”
As a criminal lawyer, Job Knoester has so far defended about fifteen people with child murder on their conscience. He has five children of his own and those things are not always easy for him. “I found it especially difficult the first time. It concerned a case in which a baby had been shaken to death and then treated with an iron. When I talk about it I feel the shivers run down my spine again,” he says.
For a long time Knoester did not know how to deal with his feelings. “I thought I had to turn off those emotions. What other people feel, I wasn’t allowed to feel.” But he has now found a way to deal with it. “I’ve had help and can now remain professional in my work.”
“There is often a major psychological problem behind it.”
A case that Knoester still remembers well is that of the then 23-year-old Umit T. from Tilburg. The young father had drug problems and his relationship was not going well. He blamed it on his five-month-old daughter. When it all became too much for him, he shook the baby so hard that it killed her.
A gruesome case, but according to Knoester his client was not an unscrupulous killer. “This came about out of powerlessness,” he says. “It’s not like anyone thinks: I’m going to kill that baby, like in a liquidation. There is often a major psychological problem behind it.”
And he sees that with most parents who kill their own child. “Most clients have felt extremely unsafe in their youth. For example, they grew up with parents who were involved in crime. Or they were victims of fornication or abuse. Others were abandoned by their parents and grew up in homes.”
“The father suffered for what he had done.”
Knoester does not want to justify this, but does want to explain it. “They are not cold killers who do this. Those parents are also victims themselves.”
Convincing the judge of this is also difficult, according to Knoester. But with Umit T. it worked. De Tilburger was sentenced by the court to eight years in prison for murder. On appeal, he was acquitted of murder, but convicted of manslaughter. That means there was no preconceived plan. He received five years in prison and TBS.
“My client took his responsibility. He suffered from what he had done and wanted to undergo treatment. That judge also saw that,” concludes Knoester.
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2023-05-09 15:43:12
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