A lorry driver who deliberately ran down and killed a police officer on a motorbike has been jailed for 12 years to be followed by psychiatric treatment in a detention centre.

The death had a major impact on relatives, the police and society at large, the Rotterdam court said in its ruling, adding that Willem M had made the ‘deliberate choice’ to run over the police officer.

M was in Rotterdam to make a delivery in July 2021 when he was ordered to pull over by police officer Arno de Korte.

Camera footage played in court showed how M reduced speed and then drove faster, trapping the police officer under his vehicle and dragging him along for several hundred metres. De Korte was declared dead at the scene.

M then continued to make his delivery and drove home, where he was later arrested.

In 2015 M was also arrested for driving at a police officer, who lost an arm in the incident. In 2020 he was involved in an accident in which a woman died, but was later found not to be responsible for her death.

The public prosecution department said M had developed a ‘deep mistrust’ of the government and police since the 2015 incident.