ROTTERDAM - Under no circumstances does the court want to send a man living in Rotterdam but who is from Curaçao back to his island because of psychological problems. The 28-year-old man came to the Netherlands ten years ago to rehabilitate from hard drugs. He is schizophrenic, chronically psychotic and retarded.
Things went wrong on Christmas Eve 2020 at the psychiatric ward in the Netherlands. The man was angry because the food was late. He took a bread knife and started swinging and stabbing with it. Several employees were injured.
During the hearing of his case, the man again became very angry and appeared confused. Halfway through the session, he was taken back behind bars in Vught.
The judges, public prosecutor and lawyer discussed the difficult question: what should be done with this man? Which help is best?
Going back to Curaçao was also an option, but that ran into even bigger problems: there is no specialized help available on the island for a patient like him.
The court eventually imposes 328 days in prison, which is exactly the period that the Curaçao citizen was in pre-trial detention. According to the judge, imprisonment in the Netherlands is the only option because it is irresponsible that he now returns to society.