Karst Tates, driver who attacked Dutch royals, was 'in despair' over recession

The man who rammed his car into crowds at the Dutch Queen’s annual parade, killing six, appears to have been driven to despair by the recession after losing his job and his home.

Karst Tates, 38, who died early this morning from injuries he received smashing his Suzuki car through barriers and ploughing through bystanders in a failed attempt to reach the Royal Family’s open-topped bus, was due to hand back the keys of his apartment today because he could no longer pay the rent.

Tates was described by neighbours as a friendly loner who had worked unsociable hours as a security guard before being made redundant earlier this year. They added that they rarely saw the shaven-headed man, who had few visitors and no known girlfriend.

The death toll rose today when a military policeman called Roel Nijenhuis succumbed to his injuries. Two men and two women died shortly after impact, while a third man died in hospital later on Thursday.

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Despite witnessing the horrific attack, which has left eight people seriously ill in hospital including youngsters aged nine, 15 and 16, Queen Beatrix was determined to maintain her closeness to the Dutch people by attending a World War Two memorial ceremony on Monday, the state broadcaster said.

But security could be tightened after the authorities launched a review to discover how Tates was able to smash through two sets of metal crowd barriers.

It appears that he simply put his foot down, ignored pedestrians in his way and charged the barricades, but was so badly wounded in the process and his car so severely damaged that he lost direction. He missed the royal bus by around 15 metres and came to a stop only when he slammed into a nearby monument.

Although Tates was mortally injured, he told the first police officer to reach his crumpled car that his target had indeed been the popular royals and a map of their parade route was found in the vehicle.

Tates had lived for the past two years in the village of Huissen, near Arnhem, 30 miles to the south of the scene of the attack yesterday afternoon at Apeldoorn.

Sem Bosman, his landlord, told De Telegraaf newspaper: “Recently, he informed me that he had been dismissed and could no longer pay the rent. He was due to have come today to transfer the keys to a new tenant.”

Mr Bosman added: “I have never had such a well-behaved tenant. He always paid on time.”

Dutch media tried to make sense of the attack and most newspapers agreed – it was “an act of despair” by a man who felt he had lost everything.

The outrage caused most of the celebrations for the annual Queen’s Day to be abandoned, with flags flown at half mast and flowers placed near the scene in Apeldoorn today.

The images of broken bodies and the aghast Royals covering their mouths in horror have deeply shaken the Dutch, who are used to a laid-back approach to security. Dutch newspapers feared the end of an era of openness and approachability from the monarchy.

De Volkskrant daily wondered “whether Queen’s Day can ever again be celebrated in the way we Dutch are accustomed to - with as its most important feature the closeness of the Queen, her family and the Dutch public.”

It concluded: “A national illusion died on April 30, 2009: the accessibility of the Orange family on Queen’s Day.”

The Trouw newspaper added: “The Netherlands has always been proud of having a Royal Family without too much pomp. Queen's Day was always the party where the people and the royals could meet each other without restraint - and now we face the painful question of whether that will ever be possible again. Through this act, Queen’s Day will lose its spontaneity.”

The public prosecutor said that there were no indications that anybody else was involved in planning the attack. Police who searched his house “found no weapons, explosives or indications of other suspects,” they added. No links with terrorism or ideological groups had been found. link...