Attorney progresses eight years in prison for Death Rider (27) van Els (56): « You used your car as a murder machine » (Diepenbeek)

It was busy in the police court. The man, daughter, sisters and brother of victim Els Smeyers could count on a lot of support from family, friends and colleagues. They saw how the security staff brought the 27-year-old fascinated message into the room. He has been behind bars since 20 November or the day of the dramatic accident. If it depends on the attorney, it will stay for a while.

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The evening before the facts, the Diepenbekenaar started celebrating his paternity. His girlfriend made him go home neatly. « Miss you. I didn’t like the pizza. I’m not going to drink, » he still sent her. In reality he took the keys to his girlfriend’s car. First a search preceded it. The woman had taken the keys to the hospital to prevent him from crawling behind the wheel. The judge had previously imposed an alcohol lock. No fewer than five convictions for flight crime and drunk driving were already on his criminal record.

Yet Pieter found the reserve keys and made a tour of Bilzen, Diepenbeek, Hasselt and Sint-Truiden. He did not always remember loyalty to his girlfriend. « He plunged into the nocturnal sex circuit. »

In the morning around 7 a.m., the dramatic facts took place on the Steenweg in Diepenbeek. A bus driver saw how the young man swallowed the road at high speed. A catch -up maneuver of a tractor with a trailer ended fatally. The suspect was too far out to the right and drove Els Smeyers who was on his way to work on the Uhasselt. The woman had no chance. Instead of offering help, the perpetrator kicked it off.

« I remember it, but I don’t know what is right anymore, » Pieter said Wednesday. « That is because of the shock. I got out. I was the first to see the victim. She was no longer moving. I did not touch her and suspected that she was out of consciousness. I walked away. Did not run away. To ventilate. That was not the right reaction. There was a little bit of emotionless.

Master Johan Knapen spoke for Els’s husband and his children. « The perpetrator has torn someone out of life. Removed from a family by reckless behavior. My client went to the place of the accident and found that his wife had died. The children were traveling. The daughter was in Bangkok and the son followed the Zijderoute. You can imagine what has happened in their heads. Murder machine ‘.

Lawyer Lore Dyckmans described the Leed Els’ parents. « The father is now in a residential care center. His physical condition has plummeted after the facts. The mother still lives at home and gets the care of the children there. It is indescribable that their daughter was suddenly removed by someone else’s recklessness. »

Pieter’s ex put himself a civil party against him. Because he took her car. « She too is involved against will and thanks. She has filed a complaint for user theft. Without her permission, he used the car. Because of the accident she is on the blacklist of the insurance. Now she is standing for her son, » said Advocate Valerie Luyckx.

Read too. Surroundings of Pieter S. respond: « His girlfriend has stopped their relationship after the fatal accident »

The relationship is a thing of the past. The baby also only bears the surname of the mother. The attorney was talking about a morning where two different worlds came together in a dramatic way. “At a time when his work is going to work, a collision follows in which he has 1.93 Promille alcohol in the blood. He has never made himself the consideration that day and night he is working on. He caused a sorrow that will never recover again. By a person who starts lying and his partner cheats on his name in this file. A young age. I ask the family to be particularly strict, the life he has taken and his criminal past. « 

Murderer

For the unintentional killing in the drunken state at inappropriate speed, the attorney progressed five years in prison. For the flight crime – « the second bad decision he makes » – a year in prison and for the nine of the alcohol lock for another two years. Or a total of 8 years in prison and another 24,000 euro fine plus a lifelong driving ban. Lawyer Gust Detienne stated on behalf of the perpetrator that there were no apologies. The lawyer did not dispute the indictments. He pointed out that the man is in an alcohol -free department in prison. « For more than six months. »

« He doesn’t get better in prison. He is willing to live conditions. » A lifelong alcohol lock and even a catering ban was suggested. How the latter should be checked then everyone has it guessed. The relatives got the floor. « What should I say about it? He has plunged us into misery. We have been punished for life, » said the widower.

« You can introduce yourself if someone did that with your mother, » asked Els’ daughter. « We got a life of suffering. That he realizes what he has done, » said the sisters. The victim’s brother was the sharpest. « He is a murderer. The worst person I have ever encountered. I hope to never have to see him again. »

As a suspect, Pieter S. traditionally got the last word. « I am going to limit myself in words. Every word is going to be too many. I am present in court today to take up my responsibility. In the past I have always minimized my alcohol consumption. Now I am in prison in an alcohol -free department. Whatever punishment I get, no prison sentence makes up their suffering. » Judgment on June 25.