Victoria-O football club arsonist confesses: 5,500 damages for clubhouse restoration

OBDAM – The fourteen-year-old perpetrator who was arrested at the time for arson in the clubhouse of the Victoria-O football association was sentenced today to suspended juvenile detention and four- twenty hours of community service. He must also pay 5,500 euros in compensation to the club. In addition to the arson, the young perpetrator was also held responsible for theft and assault.

The court concludes that the arson attack of Castricummer, then 14 years old, is true. On May 24, 2020, the great fire broke out at the Victoria-O football club in Obdam. At first, we thought of a short-circuit, because the fire seemed to have started in the technical room.

But when two residents of Obdam arrested a 14-year-old boy who for some unknown reason tried to flee through the rooftops, he confessed to starting the fire.

The boy set a goal net on fire with a lighter in the storage room of a football club. According to the president of the football club, the damage amounted to around 160,000 euros.

Personal circumstances

In addition to an arson attack on the football association’s clubhouse, the Castricummer is also guilty of robbing an old lady. Along with the stolen key, he also stole the car, he confessed, but is not considered proven by the court. He also beat a peer.

In the severity of the sentence, the court took into account the fact that, according to an expert, the boy suffers from an addiction to cannabis and an oppositional defiant disorder: the young offender felt excluded and no longer wants to be excluded. of the group. This makes him very impressionable.

The boy remains committed to juvenile rehabilitation, has to cooperate with treatment in a plus youth care institution and has to adhere to a curfew.

Own risk at the author’s expense

The football club canteen reopened in July to build. The amount of 160,000 euros of damage is largely compensated by the insurance, only an amount of 5,500 euros of deductible remains open, which must be paid to the club, decided the court this afternoon.

“This is what we asked for and it seems very reasonable to us that he pay the franchise,” said President Cees Koning of Victoria-O. The boy was not himself a member of the club, but often came with friends from the village, says the president. In addition, he does not want to waste words: everything will be fine later. When the money has been deposited, it’s the closing and then it’s all over. “