Magistrates in the West Flemish city of Bruges want to release a 50-year-old man that is currently on remand for causing a road accident that resulted in the death of a family of three on the E403 motorway at Ruddevoorde (West Flanders) 2 months ago. The man’s lawyer confirms that this is the case and that if his client were to be released, he would be electronically tagged. If the prosecutor’s office appeals against the decision to release the man, he could spend another 2 weeks on remand.
Man responsible for road accident that killed family of three could be released from custody and given electronic tag
Published:
On the night of Saturday 10 August Jurgen L. drove his car at high speed into the back of another vehicle. All 3 people that were in the car, a 29-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and their 8-year-old daughter, were killed. It soon emerged that not only was Jurgen L. driving too fast, but he was also over the limit for alcohol. After questioning by an examining magistrate from Bruges, Jurgen L. was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and a string of other driving offences.
The 50-year-old from Torhout (West Flanders) had 14 previous convictions for diving offences. In 2021 he was given a 3-month driving ban and was told by the court that he would only be given back his driving licence once he had resat both his theoretical and practical driving tests and had undergone medical and psychological tests. However, the driving ban was never enforced by the police and Jurgen L. was able to carry on driving.
Prosecutor’s office can still appeal
After having spent a week in hospital recovering from the injuries that he had sustained in the accident, Jurgen L was taken to the remand wing of a prison. At a remand hearing on Friday morning his lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge successfully requested that he be electronically tagged and released from custody.
However, this doesn’t mean that Jurgen L will be released straight away. The public prosecutor’s office can still appeal. If they chose to do so the appeal will be heard by the Ghent Chamber of Indictment in 2 weeks’ time.