A Zwijndrecht man was sentenced to ten years in prison by the Ghent Court of Appeal on Monday after appealing against the original seven-year sentence imposed on him for attempting to kidnap a minor.
The incident occurred on Friday 2 September 2022 at a tram stop in Melsele, near Beveren in East Flanders. The man and his 30-year-old female accomplice posed as security agents and invited a 16-year-old girl to join them.
The teenager fled and alerted a tram driver, who then called the police. Thanks to her physical description of the couple, they were swiftly apprehended.
In March, the couple appeared before the Termonde Criminal Court, which sentenced the man to seven years' imprisonment. His accomplice was sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended, coupled with a prohibition from contacting her partner.
Only the male appealed. According to his lawyer, his intention was not to kidnap the teen but to seek information about an act of vandalism from her.
However, the public prosecutor disputed this version of events, asserting that the intent to kidnap was clear. The prosecutor requested a ten-year sentence and a special measure entailing court supervision after the sentence.
Ghent’s Court of Appeal finally sentenced the man to ten years in prison without the additional measure.
