A 16-year-old boy, Jaap van der H. (surname withheld) has been given a maximum sentence for murdering a 14-year-old, Dirk Post, from the same town in November last year. His time on remand will be subtracted from the 12-months in a juvenile prison handed down by the judge presiding over the case. The boy was also sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment at a secure facility after he has completed his sentence.

The boys were friends who lived in the orthodox Christian town of Urk in the Province of Flevoland. During the case there were rumours that the killing took place after a ouija board session. Dirk Post's parents deny their son would ever partake in such an activity.

The judge found Jaap van der H. guilty of premeditated murder, he lured the boy to the woods and stabbed him 47 times, even pausing and continuing when he realised Dirk Post was still alive. The judge ruled that he could have stopped. He then kept quiet about the murder, while Dirk Post was missing, and denied killing his friend when his body was discovered.

Jaap van der H. suffers from a serious mental condition with psychotic tendencies. As the teenager was tried in a juvenile court and received a relatively mild sentence in spite of the severity of his crime, his mental condition was not considered as mitigating circumstances. The court ruled that the teenager should continually receive psychiatric help.

Two other suspects, a 13-year-old and a 14 year-old boy, were acquitted. They had been with the other two but ran away before Dirk Post was killed. The case was heard behind closed doors because of the young age of the defendants.

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