Prosecutor seeks three years for Zwolle rail cable cutting

The Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) called for a 36-month prison sentence, with six months suspended, for a 46-year-old man from Zwolle over cables cut at the railway bridge over the IJssel. The district court in Zwolle will rule in two weeks.

The suspect, named as Christiaan N., admitted cutting seven cables, which stopped rail traffic on this key connection for hours. The prosecution says nine cables were cut. The prosecutor told the court that all signals went to red and every train around Zwolle made an emergency stop. According to the prosecutor, the suspect knowingly accepted the risk of a collision. ProRail, which manages the rail network, wants more than €21,000 in costs reimbursed.

N. told the judges he was "surviving" at the time, sleeping in a tent along the Vecht river with no money for food. He said he never wanted to endanger trains: "I lay awake over it last night."

His lawyer argued that he never intended to endanger rail traffic and did not knowingly accept that danger. N. has admitted most of the charges.

The prosecution also charges him with stealing bronze parts from the Indiëmonument in Zwolle and taking money from two churches in Deventer. It adds seven burglaries and three attempted burglaries at hospitality businesses in Wijhe and Olst.