Nicolas Ullens sentenced to twelve years for murder of his mother-in-law in Lasne
The Nivelles assize court has sentenced Nicolas Ullens to twelve years in prison for the premeditated murder of Myriam Lechien, 70. The sentence is considered very lenient.
Twelve years for the murder of Myriam Lechien: the Nivelles assize court delivers its verdict
The Nivelles assize court has sentenced Nicolas Ullens to twelve years in prison for the murder of his mother-in-law, Myriam Lechien. As reported by DHnet, three of these years have already been served in pre-trial detention, which makes the convicted man eligible for release in no more than nine years — and potentially eligible for conditional release as early as next year, once one-third of his sentence is reached.
The facts were established by the jurors themselves: a premeditated murder. Nicolas Ullens fired six bullets at Myriam Lechien, 70, at point-blank range, outside her home in Lasne, in the presence of her husband, Baron Guy Ullens. The accused admitted to firing the shots.
The length of the sentence provoked astonishment. Nicolas Ullens faced a life sentence. The public prosecutor's office had sought twenty-five years. The defence argued for five years with a suspended sentence. The jury settled on a middle position, taking account of the accused's lack of criminal record and other mitigating circumstances. For Myriam Lechien's family, the bitterness is understandable; for many citizens, the bewilderment is real.
DHnet emphasises in its editorial that whilst an assize court judges an individual in his singularity — his background, his circumstances — it also has the mission to signify what society refuses to tolerate and to state what it means, in the eyes of the law, to take a life. For that of Myriam Lechien, the jury has therefore answered: twelve years.
Source: DHnet