The assistance has failed in all areas to protect a 14-year-old Amsterdam youth girl. Her father shot her dead late last year. Today an investigation into the drama, which is being carried out on behalf of mayor Halsema and alderman Kukenheim.

On December 28 last year, two bodies were found in a house in Amsterdam-East. It turned out to be a 14-year-old girl and her father. The 52-year-old man had first shot his daughter and then himself.

Former juvenile judge and National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children Corinne Demeijer-Vermeulen states in the report that the system has failed, but that the various claims can each prevent a fatal one.

‘Insufficient trust between key players’

The researcher is critical of, among others, the Parent Child Team (OKT), Safe at Home, the Amsterdam District Court, the Child Protection Board and the Youth Protection. She states that the “lack of sufficient institutional trust between the main players involved in youth care in the municipality of Amsterdam has hampered the assistance”.

According to the researcher, the institutions also did not have enough expertise in-house and they were busy for too long time and time again.

It was only five days before death that the girl had been placed under supervision by the juvenile court, after months of worrying about her situation. For example, she hardly went to school and she was isolated from her mother and other adults. There were also pieces of loverboy problems. “Father protects open house for a group of boys who were significantly older than the juvenile,” the report reads.

According to Dettmeijer, it had been intended to live completely with her father for a year.

Also criticism of court

The researcher also condemns that the father “had really taken control of the assistance because of his refusal to cooperate”. According to her, he was able to do this because “there is a lack of direction in the assistance”. In addition, the mother expressed her concerns about the father to the police in 2016. He is said to have suicidal tendencies, drink excessive amounts of alcohol and have a drug addiction. She experienced the assistance mainly as “doing nothing” and “waiting”.

In addition to the assistance, Dettmeijer also looked at the judicial process. During one of the proceedings, the victim wrote her a letter from the court, asking her to change her primary residence from her mother’s address to her father’s.

The judge went along without a hearing having taken place. With this informal procedure, the according to the investigation procedure made a mistake and the court not only applied the law but also sent the rights of the mother.

Hard smile

In a response, the Amsterdam District Court denies that there is a violation of the law during the procedure with the child letter. “The judge also heard the parties involved in these proceedings, carefully weighed the interests and decided what was in the interest of the minor at that time.”

The court sees the report in the report as a recommendation to adopt a national policy. “It is being examined in more detail under what circumstances a child letter should lead to a formed session.”

Mayor Halsema and alderman of care Kukenheim call the events “a horrific drama” in a letter to the city council. They develop that the report is “a hard blow to the individual efforts that can prevent this drama despite their efforts”.