A violent criminal who shot his ex-partner and her mother in a shopping centre car park has been jailed for 30 years.

Minh Nghia V., 50, shot his former partner, Anneke, in the back after confronting her in the car park in Zwijndrecht in January last year. Her 66-year-old mother, Michel, was shot dead by V. when she went to help her daughter.

The court in Dordrecht said the case was a “clear attempt at femicide” by V., who sent his ex-partner a message with the words “till death do us part” shortly before he attacked her.

The judge found V. guilty of the attempted murder of his ex-partner and the manslaughter of her mother. Under Dutch law a conviction for murder requires the court to be convinced that the killing was premeditated.

The court was told that V. parked outside Michel’s house on January 21, the day of the shooting, where Anneke had moved in after their relationship broke down. She suffered permanent injuries as a result of the shooting.

On the run

He followed the two women to the shopping centre where he confronted them with the gun. V., a career criminal nicknamed “Lucky” for his success in evading justice, fled the scene and went on the run for five weeks before handing himself in.

He confessed to police and asked the judge to sentence him to life in jail, but the court imposed a 30-year term. The prosecution had also demanded a life sentence.

“What happened is bad enough. I’ll take responsibility,” he said during a hearing in May.

V. had an extensive criminal network and a long history of violent offences, including a six-and-half-year jail sentence for a “rip deal” and another conviction for taking part in an armed robbery in which three men stole €260,000 from a money courier.