A Dutch lawyer is attempting to get his client out of jail with an unusual argument - he’s too tall and fat for his cell.
“He is a giant of a man, there’s no way you cannot realize that as soon as you see him,” said Bas Martens in a telephone interview on Friday.
Mr. Martens said his client, 2.07 meters (about six feet 10 inches) tall and weighing 230 kilograms (500 pounds), is in a 10 square meter (12 sq. yard) cell.
The prisoner, identified under Dutch privacy laws as Angelo M., began serving an 18-month sentence for financial fraud in September.
Mr. Martens sought a court order at a hearing on Thursday for Angelo to serve out his sentence under electronically monitored house arrest.
He said the prison facilities - Angelo’s bed and the low toilet in his cell - are too small and so painful that his conditions violate European human rights law.
“He’s not trying to escape his punishment - he suffers pain every day,” Mr. Martens said.
Representatives of the prison in Krimpen aan de IJssel, in the country’s southwest, could not immediately comment.
Mr. Martens said they argued in court that the prison adheres to national standards and they had made efforts to accommodate Angelo’s needs.
But Mr. Martens said measures such as extending his bed with a piece of wood and giving him an extra mattress weren’t good enough.
Court spokeswoman Paula Keuning said the judges’ written ruling is due on February 8.
