AMSTERDAM — The man alleged to have been planning a knife attack last year on Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende had previously been sentenced for an attempted killing.

The 33-year-old A. T., of Zoetermeer, was arrested on 27 October near the prime minister’s house in Capelle aan den IJssel.

He was allegedly carrying a knife and was looking for Balkenende’s house. Police seized a gun when searching his house.

The man was sentenced in The Hague in September 2001 to 21-months jail, seven months of which were suspended, for an attempted murder committed in May 2001, news agency ANP reported.

The man was also sentenced to a two-year probation period and due to the fact that he is alleged to have committed an offence in that period, the prosecution will demand that he be ordered to serve out the suspended sentence.

It is alleged the man was in a confused state at the time of his arrest last year. He is currently being examined in the psychiatric assessment Pieter Baan centre.

The man has been summonsed to appear in the Rotterdam Court for a pre-trial hearing on 2 February.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news