A Belgian appeals court has begun hearing arguments over whether the driver who killed a young family of three in Ruddervoorde should serve more time in prison than originally sentenced. Prosecutors are demanding three years of effective imprisonment — three times what was handed down in the first ruling earlier this year.

The crash took place in August 2024 on the E403 motorway in Ruddervoorde, a village in the West Flemish province of Belgium. Jürgen L. rear-ended an Opel Corsa at approximately 200 kilometres per hour — a speed captured in a dashboard photo he took moments before the collision. He was driving at three to four times the legal alcohol limit and was using his mobile phone at the wheel. The impact left almost nothing of the smaller car intact. Janick (29), Janice (30), and their eight-year-old daughter Maithé did not survive. It was not Jürgen L.'s first brush with the law: he had accumulated 14 prior convictions before a police court.

In February, a court sentenced him to five years in prison, but four of those were suspended under conditions. He also received a fine of €8,000 and a lifetime driving ban. Prosecutors considered the single year of effective imprisonment far too lenient and lodged an appeal. They are now seeking a five-year sentence with only two years suspended, meaning three years behind bars.