The incident happened in November 2022. Officials at a transport company in Beervelde, in East Flanders, had noticed that fuel had regularly been stolen for a while now. The thief almost always struck on a Tuesday evening.
The company’s manager wanted to catch the thief red-handed and called in some friends and family members. They planned immediately to notify the police if they noticed anything suspicious. A local police officer had also advised them not to use any force.
On the night of Tuesday 15 November, the police received a call. A burglar had been caught on the premises but had managed to flee via the fields behind the building.
When the police arrived at the scene, they discovered that the burglar had been stopped. He was lying on the ground, handcuffed but with no sign of life. Police then arrested the men standing around him.
Right to restrain thief, but...
The defendants stated that their only intention was to detain the burglar and then hand him over to the police. The burglar, a 42-year-old Russian, also allegedly threatened them with a knife during the chase.
The court ruled that the defendants did have the right to detain the burglar while waiting for the police. ‘But they did not do this with the necessary caution and proportionality required’.
The men had restrained the burglar, who was lying on his stomach, with his face touching the ground and soil getting into his nose, mouth and his eyes. The burglar, who was also obese, resisted fiercely at first, but was then unable to breath and suffocated.
The men were each given 150 hours of community service.