The court in Lelystad decided on Wednesday that Chris T. (42) from Breda must serve five years in prison, supplemented with TBS under conditions. He was convicted for his attempt to kill presenter Tim Hofman in September last year.
What happened to Tim Hofman?
On September 6, 2023, T. walked into the BNNVARA office in Hilversum with a converted gas pistol. His intention? Shooting Tim Hofman dead. Crazy, right? But that wasn’t all. T. also had plans to kill an aid worker from Oss. Yikes!
The penalty
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) took a tough approach and demanded no less than twelve years in prison plus TBS with compulsory treatment. However, the judge found it appropriate to give T. five years in prison, because he was less responsible when he wanted to kill Tim Hofman. Moreover, he prematurely decided not to follow through with his plans and turned himself in. All this meant that the court decided that five years in prison with TBS was the correct punishment. This is the maximum sentence if conditions are attached to the TBS.
Terrorist purpose
The court was convinced that T. had prepared the murder of Hofman with terrorist intent. On the day of his violent plans, he even sent a manifesto via Telegram in which he opposed everything that was ‘left, extreme left, feminist or woke’. During the police interrogations, he even stated what he considered to be ‘terrorist intent’.
Appeal
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) is considering appealing after the verdict in Chris T’s case. Today the man was sentenced to prison and conditions, but these were much less than the twelve years in prison and compulsory treatment that the Public Prosecution Service had demanded. . “We are pleased that the judge has recognized all the facts,” says a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service. “But we also notice that the punishment is lower than what we asked for. We will look at the ruling.” The Public Prosecution Service now has two weeks to decide whether to appeal. So it is possible that the story will continue.
Response from Tim
Tim does not agree that there should be an appeal. His lawyer, Maarten Pijnenburg, calls the court’s ruling on Wednesday a ‘nice ruling’ for his client. Pijnenburg informs RTL Boulevard that Tim will not appeal the decision.
