A 17-year-old youth who broke into a house with a view to opening a safe has been stabbed to death. The incident happened in the Antwerp suburb of Borgerhout on Sunday.


The burglar obliged the property's owner to open his safe. The owner then managed to take hold of a knife and stabbed the burglar to death.
The 17-year-old, who was not acting alone, managed to flee with his accomplice, but succumbed to his injuries outside the property. A body search revealed cash that had just been stolen from the home of the 84-year-old.
The youngster who was killed is of Moroccan extraction. The resident is an elderly Fleming.

No prosecution planned

Police later revealed that the 17-year-old was known to the authorities in connection with other similar incidents and that he had been placed under the supervision of a youth magistrate.
There are no plans to prosecute the elderly resident who killed the youngster at the moment. An examining magistrate told VRT News that there was sufficient evidence to believe that the 84-year-old acted in self-defence. The youngster is said to have threatened his victim with a screwdriver.
In recent years the elderly gentleman and his partner had repeatedly been the victim of similar incidents. In 2009 a thief impersonated an employee of a utility company. Two further attempted break-ins followed in 2010 and 2011.FLANDERS NEWS