A 20-year-old man from Tienray in Limburg was detained for two years for stabbing 21-year-old Guus Janssen to death on Carnival Monday in Horst. The Roermond court also imposed juvenile detention, a treatment that probably lasts more than two years.
Joshua de L. was nineteen when he stabbed Janssen to death. At the time of his act, De L. had the mental capacity of a fifteen or sixteen year old. Experts therefore recommended the application of juvenile criminal law. The court agreed with that.
Two weeks ago, the Public Prosecutor (OM) asked for a maximum sentence of two years of juvenile detention. They wanted De L. to receive unconditional juvenile detention for three years.
The stabbing occurred after a carnival-goer made a comment against De L. This man would have called De L. a “fake Moroccan” because he was not wearing carnival clothes. Although Janssen wasn’t the person who made the comment, De L. stabbed him in the stomach. He bled to death instantly.
De L. fled home after the stabbing. De L. then tried to blame someone else and made different statements during interrogations. The court spoke of senseless violence with irreversible consequences.
The victim’s sister reacted with resignation to the statement on Tuesday. “This seems unfair,” she said she. “It is disproportionate to what happened. He will be free again in five years and we must miss Guus forever. But this is the most that can be achieved.”
