Today the Amsterdam District Court (Criminal Chamber) handed down its verdict in the "Climbing Wall" case. In this sad case, a boy fell 14 meters down during a children's party because it turned out he was not properly secured. This became fatal to him. Arlette Schijns, Irene Timmermans and Nicole Hoogenboom assisted the bereaved families in the criminal case in which the legal entity and two directors were prosecuted for culpable homicide.
The Amsterdam court reached a conviction of all three defendants as supervision was inadequate and essential precautions were missing. Leaving securing while climbing to an inexperienced parent, while the supervisors are busy baking pancakes, among other things, is irresponsible. A painful conclusion, now that the death could have been prevented.
In the case of the parents, the claims for compensation of both affection damage and shock damage were granted, both with respect to the damages and (part of the) costs incurred and loss of income. The verdict is satisfactory, but is only a very small plaster for an immense wound.
For more information about the ruling
For the NOS report