Self defence or murder

The old days when thieves and robbers could threaten innocent citizens and steal valuable items, seem to have gone by. This is thanks to a small jeweler store in Deurne. When two Moroccan robbers threatened the owner of the store Goldies, while insisting on getting as much gold and silver as possible, his wife came to his rescue. She used the gun that the couple had stored just for this kind of robbery and killed both culprits. The couple was pronounced heroes by a large part of the population, but they also suffered heavy criticism. JOEP DERKSEN reports.

It was not the first time that the couple, Willy and Marianne Sanders, was confronted with robbers. A few years ago, they were threatened by two thieves just outside their store. They managed to protect their belongings, but they made sure that they would be better prepared the next time when culprits would come to take their belongings. On Friday 28 March, just before 18:00 pm, the two men entered the store demanding the gold. They mostly paid attention to Willy Sanders and did not notice in time that his wife had grabbed their gun. She shot several bullets and both robbers died instantly. Her husband was hit in the hand by a bullet.

The police was called and the couple was taken in for questioning. But the same weekend they were released already. Hoofdofficier (Chief Officer) Bart Nieuwenhuizen stated on television: ‘We consider this a case of ‘self-defense’. One of the deceased is known to the police, because he has committed similar offences. Two weapons were found; one of the attackers and one of the storeowners. The couple probably did not have a license.’

Nieuwenhuizen was soon criticized for drawing his conclusions too early and in Deurne around thirty Moroccan and North African citizens demonstrated. They held flags stating amongst others ‘Marianne is not a hero’. On the social media, however, most of the tens of thousands of comments all agreed: ‘When you take the risk of robbing a store, you take the risk of getting shot.’

Pieter Vleeming is spokesperson for the organization ‘Bond van Wetsovertreders’ (Union of law offenders). ‘As a union we don’t promote crime, but we fight for the interests of people breaking the law. So that the government respects their rights and does not infringe on those rights.’ The conclusions of Nieuwenhuizen were done without proper research, Vleeming states. ‘The couple illegally possessed a weapon and two people died. In such a case, one should not state too soon that it is self-defense.’

All media spoke of and wrote about this incident and the general feeling that was left behind with many people was: ‘it is good that people protect their own belongings’.  But will this mindset lead to a different society in which more violence will occur. Hence, when store keepers keep handguns, then robbers will use, for instance, Uzi’s. Vleeming: ‘Such a course in events cannot be excluded. It may lead to American situations and ultimately crime will be fought against by other criminal activities.’

The Union for law offenders acknowledges the right for shopkeepers to protect themselves, but this should not be with a gun. ‘I would have no objections if storekeepers have a can of pepper spray at hand. Strictly officially, this is not allowed, but with pepper spray you can take out a person for a short period of time. Besides that, pepper spray is almost never lethal.’

Vleeming asks for compassion for the robbers. ‘It is not good to rob a store, but these boys are being left to take care of themselves. When people get out of prison, they have almost no alternatives to make money. More and more employers demand a ‘Verklaring omtrent gedrag’ (Declaration regarding the behavior), before they hire somebody. And when you have been in prison, you can’t obtain such a declaration. Since prisoners have to pay for their own time in incarceration, they come out of jail with a huge debt. Because of this, they have to start doing criminal things, in order to get money. When you don’t have any possibility to integrate in the society, you’ll end up dealing drugs or robbing stores. Not because you like to do it, but because there’s no alternative.’