Liège: five years imprisonment for series of armed robberies in one week
A man in his thirties in irregular status has received a five-year custodial sentence after committing five armed robberies in Liège within the space of seven days.
Liège: five years imprisonment for series of armed robberies in one week
A 35-year-old man in irregular status has been sentenced to five years imprisonment without parole by the Liège court of appeal. He was found guilty of five robberies with violence perpetrated in the Liège city area during a single week in September 2025, armed with a pair of scissors or a knife.
The offences began on 21 September. The defendant then intimidated a passer-by with scissors in order to steal his mobile telephone. He subsequently injured the man on the arm, which required stitches. A witness to the scene was also threatened with the same weapon before the perpetrator fled.
On 25 September, he assaulted two young people with scissors to take possession of a wallet, headphones and a credit card. He used the latter to pay for purchases amounting to around one hundred euros. The following day, a young woman suffered the same fate: robbed of her wallet under threat of scissors.
His arrest took place on 28 September, when he was carrying a knife whose blade measured 19 centimetres.
The convicted man had recently regained his freedom after serving cumulative sentences totalling approximately six years in detention. He was in a state of legal recidivism at the time of these new offences. At first instance, the court had imposed four years imprisonment.
The defence lawyer, Me Alexandre de Fabribeckers, argued that his client, lacking means and trapped in an administrative situation with no way out, could neither take up declared employment nor leave the territory. The judges retorted that multiple opportunities for reintegration had previously been given to him, without result.
In their decision, the magistrates emphasised the brutality of the actions, the systematic resort to weapons and the psychological impact on the persons targeted. They also noted the concentration of the offences over a period of only seven days, with each assault involving the display of a weapon, a sign of escalating criminal behaviour.
Source: DHNET
Source: DHnet