Broken jaw, lost teeth and bruised ribs: young robbers receive an unseen beating in prison (Hasselt)

Hasselt –

A broken jaw, several teeth knocked out, a fractured nose, bruised ribs… The three young robbers who robbed a newsagent in Hasselt in April received an unprecedented beating in prison.

The trio, aged 19 to 21, has been behind bars in Hasselt since April 23. On that day, the police were able to arrest the young men of Syrian descent on Guffenslaan. Impressive video footage from an eyewitness shows how a car was intercepted at the intersection of Guffenslaan and Kunstlaan around 6:30 am. One man gets out of the car with his hands on the back of his head and lies down on the street. He is then handcuffed and taken away by the officers. Moments earlier, they had committed an armed robbery on a newsagent’s on Hasselt’s Grote Ring. Their loot consisted mainly of cigarettes.

Surgical procedure

On April 26, during a walk in the Hasselt prison, they were roughly introduced to 25-year-old DM. He is known as an experienced boxer from Antwerp. The man let his fists do the talking after the robbers had a brief argument with him. It is unclear what that discussion was about. The consequences are clear. One victim lost several teeth and suffered a jaw fracture. There was even surgical intervention to treat the injuries. The oldest robber lost consciousness and suffered a broken nose as a result of the confrontation. Finally, multiple bruised ribs were the part for the 19-year-old.

“Disturbing”

Boxer DM was subjected to disciplinary proceedings as a result of the brawl. A report has also been made to the public prosecutor’s office. The latter to the satisfaction of Mark Huygen, lawyer for one of the victims. “It’s disturbing that this can still happen today. Especially after everything we have experienced with the abuse of a detainee in the Antwerp prison. If you can also beat off three men… The safety of the prisoners remains an issue.”