The Leuven Correctional Court has sentenced a man to one year in prison and an €8,000 fine, partly suspended, for breaking-and-entering and dealing in drugs.
On the night of 31 December 2020, the police were called to an apartment building in the Fonteinstraat in Leuven, where they found the defendant, Wim J.
He had entered the apartment through the balcony on the third floor, looking for a place to sleep, and broke down the door in the process.
He also had a long iron chain attached to the sleeve of his jacket. While this was not a prohibited object, he was carrying it to possibly defend himself, so it was punishable.
For most of 2021 - from 6 February to 30 August - Wim J. had engaged in drug dealing. Statements from his customers, his mobile phone records and a search of the drug premises where he was staying showed that he sold cannabis, ecstasy, heroin and speed.
At the hearing, his defence lawyer argued that there was nothing to this, but his arguments were not convincing, the court found.
The defence also asked for probation, again in vain: Wim J. had already been convicted several times for similar offences since 2008, and had never taken the chances he was given since then, so the court opted for jail time.
However, he will only have to pay one-tenth of the fine: €800.
