The man on trial for the violent murders of two people in Weiteveen last year should be jailed for life, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.

Richard K was fully aware of his actions when he killed the couple, Sam and Ineke, using extreme violence in a dispute over the sale of his former family home, the prosecutor stated during Thursday’s hearing.

K has admitted to killing 44-year-old Ineke and her 38-year-old husband, Sam, last January, a year after the couple from Velsen-Zuid bought the property.

Tensions between K and the couple escalated into increasingly violent conflicts after they accused him of concealing defects in the house. They demanded €100,000 in compensation for repairs, but K was only willing to pay €6,000.

On January 16, K shot Ineke in the village of Weiteveen, near the German border in Drenthe, before entering the house and stabbing Sam multiple times in his bedroom, in front of the couple’s 12-year-old son.

He then posted a video on Facebook admitting to the killings, claiming he had acted to protect his family.

The couple’s son was in court for Thursday’s hearing, telling K directly that he had been deeply traumatised by the murders. Other family members described K as an “animal.”

The court was also shown dashcam footage taken by Ineke as K approached her car. Ineke is heard to shouting “police” and sounding the horn, before the side window was shattered by two bullets.

Police previously admitted to making crucial mistakes in the months leading up to the shooting and failing to act on more than 80 complaints from villagers about stalking, threats, and intimidation.

Currently in the Netherlands, life sentences mean just that, but since 2016, cases can be assessed after 25 years for possible release.

There are currently around 35 prisoners serving life sentences in Dutch prisons, including several gangland killers and Mohammed Bouyeri, who murdered filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004.