Amsterdam judges have reached an agreement to impose higher sentences on people found guilty of weapons offences, the AD said on Saturday.

The aim, the paper said, is to make a statement following a spate of violent incidents in the Dutch capital.

‘There have been a lot of stabbings and killings in the city and people are more willing to use hand grenades,’ spokesman Domien Huijbregts told the paper. ‘That is why we want to give a clear signal. This is completely unacceptable.’

Sentences for gun, knife or grenade crime in the Dutch capital can be four times as high as in other parts of country, the paper said. This means someone caught with a pistol would be jailed for 12 months, while the recommended sentence is three months.

‘Amsterdam judges are able to go their own way in this,’ a spokesman for the Council for the Judiciary told the AD. ‘They are completely independent.’