# Appeal over boy's climbing wall death delayed after owner dies

> The criminal case against Peter Kok, co-owner of Klimmuur Amsterdam Centraal, is set to end with his death at 66, once the court of appeal formally confirms it. The appeal over the 2023 death of an 11-year-old boy continues against the other owner.

Society · published 2026-10-21 21:57 · https://nlnow.nl/a/death-of-climbing-hall-owner-delays-appeal-over-boy-s-fall/

Peter Kok, co-owner of Klimmuur Amsterdam Centraal, died on 2 October aged 66. His death delays the appeal over the fatal fall of an 11-year-old boy at the climbing wall next to Amsterdam Central Station.

A procedural hearing (regiezitting) scheduled for Thursday will not take place, his lawyer Mark-Jan Bouwman confirmed. The court of appeal will instead decide how the proceedings continue.

Kok's death ends the case against him, although the court of appeal still has to confirm that formally. The Openbaar Ministerie, the Public Prosecution Service, will then be declared inadmissible in its case against him. The appeal against the other owner, Youri J., goes on. "The death of Peter Kok has no influence on that," Bouwman said.

The boy fell about 14 metres in November 2023 during a children's party because he was not properly secured. In June 2025 the Amsterdam district court found the climbing hall had breached its duty of care. It sentenced Kok and Youri J. each to 120 hours of community service.

The climbing hall was fined €60,000, half of it suspended, with a two-year probation period. The two owners were also ordered to pay the boy's parents about €167,000 in damages. Both men and the company appealed.

Kok founded the climbing organisation Beest Boulders. On its website it wrote: "With his death we lose not only the founder of our organisation, but also an inspiring personality and above all: a climber to the core."

## Background

- **OM (Openbaar Ministerie)**: The Public Prosecution Service, which decides whether suspects are prosecuted and brings criminal cases to court.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/