Heerlen-Maastricht Badred D. (26) did not attempt to seriously injure his seven-week-old twins in October. The Maasmechelen resident was guilty of attempted manslaughter of his wife (26) in Heerlen. Yesterday, the court in Maastricht sentenced him to ten months' imprisonment, of which five were on probation.The sentence that the judges handed out to Ed D. yesterday is much lower than that demanded by public prosecutor De Loo two weeks ago: twenty months' imprisonment, of which five were on probation. The court did not consider most of the offenses of which the Moroccan-born man is suspected proven.

During a marital dispute at his mother-in-law's home in Heerlen, he allegedly tried to abuse his seven-week-old daughters. One of the girls he allegedly shook violently. But at the hearing, the man and his wife - who unexpectedly came to make an exculpatory statement for her husband - demonstrated what Ed D. really would have done: gently cradled the baby in his arms.

In the bedroom, he allegedly threw the other girl against the wooden bed frame, and also put his hand on the girl's mouth and throat. However, of the first fact only the grandmother was a witness, of the second only the mother.

Also because no injuries were found in both babies, their denying father is acquitted of attempted aggravated assault. The court also considers other charges unproven. For example, there is no evidence that the husband put a knife to his wife's throat in the kitchen. Only the wife herself testified to that. A testimony that she considerably weakened during the hearing. There is also no evidence that he verbally threatened to kill her.

But for what happened next in the bedroom, the man is being punished. He attempted to suffocate his wife with a pillow. This is what the victim and her mother testified to the police. The court apparently does not give credence to the mother's testimony at the hearing: that the pillow "fell" on her face several times during a struggle.

The spouses were initially going to separate, but now want to move forward together again. The imposed prison sentence is much more in the direction of what lawyer Serge Weening of Ed D. considered reasonable at most: the duration of the remand. But he actually thought that entire acquittal was in order.

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