Psych assessment for teacher killer

19 February 2004

AMSTERDAM — The 16-year-old student who shot and killed a school teacher in The Hague last month will undergo a psychiatric assessment, a public prosecution spokeswoman has said.

A court in The Hague remanded Murat D. in custody for a further 30 days on Wednesday, but it is not yet certain where the psychiatric assessment will be conducted or how long it will take.

D. has already confessed to shooting economics teacher Hans van Wieren on 13 January at the Terra College school in The Hague. Van Wieren died later that night in hospital, about an hour after D. surrendered to police.

Two other suspects are being detained in connection with the murder. They are accused of supplying D. with the gun used in the shooting. They have been identified as an adult-aged man and a male youth.

The court hearings are in principle closed hearings because D. is an underage youth, but the court can impose a youth or adult sentence, newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

The sentence will be based on four factors: the age of the suspect, the seriousness of the crime, the character of the suspect and the circumstances at the time of the crime.

It is not yet certain when D.’s trial will start, but a hearing must be held at the end of April or the start of May. It will probably be a pre-trial hearing.

Subject: Dutch news