A 55 year-old man who filmed his friend as he drowned has been sentenced to eight weeks in jail, five weeks suspended.

Alex S, who has learning difficulties, agreed to meet his friend at a swimming lake in Rosmalen in July 2022. When he saw his friend pitched forward and motionless in the water he did nothing to help him for at least 10 minutes.

On the video S is heard to say “He’s dead, he croaked”, which according to the judge indicated that he knew his friend had drowned.

“He was a good swimmer, I thought he was joking”, S said. He later got his friend out and tried CPR.

“It’s not that you didn’t act at all but that you waited ten minutes to do it,” the  judge said. Both men had been drinking and S had drunk at least six half-liters of beer but, according to experts that would not have incapacitated him.

His lawyer appealed, saying S’s learning difficulties should have ruled out a prison sentence.