A Dutch courtroom. Photo: Odi Busman
The lorry driver whose vehicle ploughed into a group of people having a barbecue last month, killing six people, including a heavily pregnant woman, had traces of cocaine in his blood, judges in The Hague were told on Thursday.
‘An indication has been found for the presence of a concentration of cocaine… in the blood of the suspect,’ the public prosecutor said during the remand hearing.
The department was appealing against an earlier court ruling which led to the man, a Spanish national, being released from custody.
The advocate general had said the decision should be overturned because of the cocaine use and the fact that the 45-year-old man has financial problems.
Nevertheless, the court ruled that the man should be released, on the condition that he attend the actual trial in person, refrain from driving any vehicle and keep the public prosecutor in Spain and the Netherlands up to date on where he lived.
Earlier it was suggested the driver may have had an epileptic fit and that possibility is still being looked into.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl
The DutchNews.nl team would like to thank all the generous readers who have made a donation in recent weeks. Your financial support has helped us to expand our coverage of the coronavirus crisis into the evenings and weekends and make sure you are kept up to date with the latest developments.
DutchNews.nl has been free for 14 years, but without the financial backing of our readers, we would not be able to provide you with fair and accurate news and features about all things Dutch. Your contributions make this possible.
If you have not yet made a donation, but would like to,
you can do so via Ideal, credit card or Paypal.
Source: Dutch News
