The appeals court in Hainaut has revised a ruling from 2 December 2014, which sentenced a man and a woman for extortion and carrying a weapon to facilitate the escape of an inmate.
The pair were originally sentenced to five years in prison by the Charleroi Correctional Court but have now had their sentences increased to six years following an appeal.
The incident took place on 2 May 2024 at Notre-Dame Hospital in Charleroi. Suspect W.B. was admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt in Jamioulx prison, which he claimed was an attempted murder by the guards, accusing them of “hanging him" while in solitary confinement.
Upon learning her partner was to be hospitalised, co-conspirator A.C. went to the hospital armed with a knife hidden in her bag. She used the knife to threaten the prison guard assigned to watch over W.B., forcing him to hand over the keys to the handcuffs. They then tied the guard to a chair, took his phone, and escaped through a broken window.
The couple, who are well-known to the police, were arrested an hour later.
