email editor
It has been revealed that one of the five fishermen accused of the murder of a fellow crewman on a Danish trawler, ‘Inger Katrine’ has a previous conviction. Photo: TVMIDVEST
The five fishermen accused of being involved in the death of a crew member on the North Sea will remain in custody a Danish Court has decided.
Five crew members who were onboard the Danish-registered trawler ‘Inger Katrine’ L 1 are awaiting trial after being charged with murder in of 41-year-old Alf Villum Jensen. The Central and West Jutland Police believe Mr Jensen died sometime between the 28 and 30 January when he was on board the Thorsminde-registered boat, somewhere on the North Sea.
At the remand hearing yesterday, Thursday 02 March, the judge at the Court in Holstebro decided not to allow for bail in the case of the five fishermen. The judge told the court that he believes that there is still reason to suspect that the five fishermen aged 28 to 41 are guilty of the death of Alf Villum Jensen on the trawler Inger Katrine and continued the custody on suspicion of violence resulting in death.
The fishermen, who all pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge, have been in custody since a constitutional hearing on Thursday 02 February 2023.
The Court in Holstebro heard the appeal behind closed doors as the prosecutor successful argued that as the police investigation is still ongoing and they are still interviewing witnesses, it could compromise the case if the public had access to information other than the charge of murder and the plea of ‘not guilty’ by the five fishermen.
In the specific case, the judge emphasised, among other things, that one of the accused has previously been convicted of murder.
In addition, an autopsy showed that Alf Villum Jensen was suffocated and sustained several injuries while he was on Inger Katrine.
Two fishermen appealed the remand order to the High Court, while two other fishermen accepted that they must remain in prison. The fifth man is considering whether he will also appeal the ruling. The fifth had previously accepted custody and was therefore not part of the hearing.
The judge believed that there were grounds for allowing the fishermen to remain in custody for four more weeks.
After this, a prosecutor from the Central and West Jutland Police must again convince a judge that custody is necessary if the police believe that the men should be behind bars.
The next court hearing is March 29.
The Court case was reported on by TVMidVest in Denmark.
