A man dubbed as the "dentist of horror" was sentenced to eight years in prison in France after physically assaulting more than a hundred patients. The man claimed to have "psychological problems" but was later proven otherwise by French psychiatrists.
As reported by Telegraph, the French court has sentenced "dentist of horror", Jacob Van Nierop, to eight years of prison time after mutilating numerous people in the rural area of Chateau-Chinon. He was also given a lifetime ban from the profession as well as fine of £81,000.
Van Nierop operated from 2008 to 2012 and left more than 50 patients in the area with broken jaws, abscesses, and septicemia. In his trial last month, prosecutor Lucile Jaillon-Bru described Van Nierop's work as a "sanitary disaster" which was aimed at ripping off money from patients and their health insurance companies.
One of Van Nierop's former patients, Sylviane Boulesteix, spoke about her experience and revealed that the doctor extracted eight teeth even though her main agenda in consulting him was to have braces fitted. "He gave me seven or eight injections, and pulled out eight teeth in one go. I was gushing blood for three days," Boulesteix said.
Another patient also revealed that Van Nierop would leave pieces of flesh hanging after an extraction procedure. Van Nierop's unethical practices continued for years until a group of 120 victims pressed charges against him in 2013.
However, despite the charges, Van Nierop was left free as the trial was pending. The dentist of horror then fled the country but was eventually tracked down in New Brunswick, Canada and captured under an international warrant in 2014.
According to The Guardian, Van Nierop attempted to avoid extradition by trying to slit his throat when the police arrived. He also subsequently cited "psychological problems" and was sent to a psychiatric unit of a jail in Paris.
One French psychiatrist stated that Van Nierop has "narcissistic tendencies" and is not aware of his actions. But another concluded that he is "perfectly aware of his doings". As reported by BBC, Van Nierop admitted in the court that he does not remember his patients, and "wasn't interested in people".
He also showed no emotion during the trial replied mostly by saying "no comment" to questions given to him. Locals in the Chateau-Chinon initially accepted Van Nierop as a savior to the place that lacked medical services, but impressions about him eventually changed as his unethical practices were exposed.
