Man (43) stabbed to death by his stepson after a row at a birthday party in West

In the early hours of Monday 14 April 2014 a birthday party at a cultural centre for Spanish-speaking migrants on Magalhaensplein in Amsterdam-West got out of hand. The occasion was the first birthday of the daughter of nineteen-year-old Miguel R. When the argument broke out police were called, and they arrived in time. Officers stopped R., but he pulled free and ran off. Other officers stopped his 43-year-old stepfather. At that moment R.'s mother-in-law struck the stepfather in the face. R. then came running back. He was stopped again, and again he pulled free. On Willem Schoutenstraat he stabbed his stepfather. The victim was struck in the chest and the arm and died later that night in hospital. At the hearing in January 2015 R. stated that he had drunk two alcoholic drinks and that his stepfather had hit his partner. Prosecutors demanded twelve years for murder. The Amsterdam court ruled on 11 February 2015: it did not find murder proven, and it rejected his pleas of excessive self-defence and psychological duress. Adolescent criminal law was not applied. R. was given seven years for manslaughter. Both the prosecution and the defendant appealed: prosecutors maintained there had been premeditation, while R. considered the sentence too heavy. On appeal the demand was eight years. No appeal judgment has been published, so the outcome of that appeal is not public.