A 32-year-old man serving a 15-year sentence for killing his baby son has been charged with drug trafficking after allegedly trying to smuggle drugs back into Bruges Prison following authorised leave.
The man, Alan C. from Veurne, is currently serving his sentence in Bruges. After being granted leave on 18 July 2026, he was allegedly caught attempting to bring drugs into the prison on his return.
Following those findings, prosecutors brought him before the investigating judge in Bruges, who ordered his arrest on suspicion of drug trafficking.
The Bruges division of the West Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the council chamber extended his detention by a further month on Friday morning.
The prosecutor’s office said it could not provide further details about the facts of the case.
Alan C. was originally convicted over the death of his son Mathéo. On 26 August 2015, the man was caring for the baby alone for the first time when the child suffered multiple skull fractures.
Mathéo died in hospital on 5 September 2015 from his injuries. Alan C. unsuccessfully claimed that he had never intended to harm his son.
In November 2017, the criminal court in Veurne sentenced him to 18 years in prison for manslaughter and assault leading to the death (doodslag) . The Ghent Court of Appeal later reduced that sentence to 15 years in June 2018.
It is not the first drug-related case involving the suspect in Bruges Prison. On 21 October 2023, he was found with small quantities of cannabis and hashish.
He claimed at the time that he was holding the drugs on behalf of a fellow inmate. In June 2024, the Bruges criminal court sentenced him to an effective three-month prison term and an €8,000 fine for drug possession.
