Former police commissioner is on trial because he had taken vacuum cleaners from the Commissioner: « accidentally » (Mechelen)
The facts would have happened when the commissioner was given a different position and emptied his desk. – © Dirk Vertommen
A former Mechelen police commissioner stood before the criminal court on Monday because he had taken two vacuum cleaners on the Commissariat. According to the Public Prosecution Service, it was a very banal business and no one knew who the owner of those vacuum cleaners was. But because of his exemplary function, the policeman was summoned.
In August 2023, the police did a check in a Mechelen Café because there were suspicions that stolen things were resold. « During that control action, the agents bumped into a few vacuum cleaners. Of course, nobody knew in the café of whom they were and were taken to the police commissioner, » attorney Catherine van de Heyning outlined the facts. « The vacuum cleaners have remained on the commissariat for a long time. Under normal circumstances, if they are not claimed by the owner, they end up at the OCMW after a while or are even taken to the recycling park. »
A year later, colleagues from a police commissioner saw how the man placed some boxes in his car. Among other things, it included the boxes with the vacuum cleaners. They made a report of this and it eventually reached the Public Prosecution Service.
« Mr. stated that everything was a mistake and that he had emptied his office that day and brought his personal things. He said he hadn’t really brought that he had also brought two vacuum cleaners, » said Van de Heyning. She underlined that the Commissioner was known for an impeccable track record and asked for the suspension of punishment.
Unexpected
Lawyer Johan Platteau, who assisted the Commissioner, said his client was a reliable and correct police officer. « During that conscious check in the cafe, a few boxes of vacuum cleaners were effectively found. They turned out to be no one. The vacuum cleaners were not stolen or lost. And the months afterwards, nobody came to request them. »
The vacuum cleaners turned out to be no one. They were also not sinned as stolen or lost. And no one came to request them in the months after
Johan Platteau
Commissioner’s lawyer
“In the meantime, my client got a different position and in the summer of last year he cleaned up his desk. He also brought the boxes with the vacuum cleaners, who were still there. But not at all in a secret way. He even passed his colleagues with it. If he had really had bad intentions, then he had a colleague with the past. Service stepped and so the ball started rolling, « said Platteau.
Master Johan Platteau was assisting the commissioner and asked the acquittal because the man would not have had any bad intentions. – © Belga
In the end, the policeman issued the vacuum cleaners at the OCMW. « What could he do with the vacuum cleaners? At home he has two more expensive vacuum cleaners because the air there must be pure because of lung problems. He never had the intention to darken those two vacuum cleaners. He has accidentally put them in his car with his personal items. »
The defense asked the acquittal. Judgment falls on April 28.
