The prosecution service is to bring charges against five friends of a man who died following a street brawl in Amsterdam’s red light district in September.

Robert Gerritsen was out on a stag night with a group of nine friends when they became involved in a fight with three Romanian nationals on the evening of September 3.

Police initially said Gerritsen, 32, from Veldhuizen, Gelderland, stepped in to break up a dispute between the two groups. He was knocked to the ground, suffered a brain injury and was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The three Romanians, who fled the scene, were later arrested and questioned in Brussels before being released pending trial.

Police questioned nine members of Gerritsen’s party as suspects after studying video footage of the incident, in which both groups traded blows. The prosecution service said they had been charged with violent disorder. They have also been released while prosecutors prepare the case against them.