The Mechelen Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced a 26-year-old man to eight years and three months in prison for torture, recruiting minors for criminal acts, and drug possession and trafficking.
A 38-year-old co-defendant received a one-year suspended sentence for her involvement in drug trafficking.
On 6 December 2023, a man was found in a street with a piece of his ear cut off. The victim claimed that he had been detained and tortured for three days because he had "forgotten to fetch pizzas." The police then went to the flat where the events had taken place and found its occupant, 38 grammes of cannabis, traces of narcotics, and bloodstains in the toilet.
The accused had allegedly ordered two minors to cut off a piece of the victim's ear. The investigation also revealed that the suspect had been at the head of a flourishing drug-trafficking business for several years. His co-defendant was said to have helped him from time to time.
The defendant's lawyer said his client realised that he had done the wrong thing. ‘We must give him one last chance, by imposing a maximum of five years‘ imprisonment for all the offences, together with probation conditions," he said.
Counsel for the second defendant, meanwhile, sought a suspended sentence.
However, the judges sentenced the man to seven years‘ imprisonment, plus a further fifteen months’ detention and a fine of €8,000 for the drug-related offences. The woman was sentenced to one year's imprisonment suspended on probation.
