A 33-year-old man from the Drenthe village of Yde, who killed two people in a crash on the N34 near Borger in 2019, has been given 240 hours community service and  30 month driving ban by appeal court judges in Assen.

The appeal court ruled there was sufficient evidence the man was active on a dating app shortly before his car was involved in a head on collision with another vehicle, killing the driver and passenger. A lower court said his use of the app at the time of the crash had not been proven.

In addition, the appeal court said that the man had been involved in a second crash while under the influence of the drug GHB some 1.5 years after the initial accident. In that incident, he drove into a bus and then fled the scene.

The public prosecution department had called for the man to be jailed for nine months, six suspended because of the seriousness of the offences. The appeal court, however, said, the man had taken responsibility for his actions and agreed to undergo treatment, hence the decision not to send him to jail.

Instead, he was given community service and a six month suspended jail term.