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'Dentist of horror' accused of horrifically injuring over 100 patients goes on trial

He allegedly left dozens of patients in a remote French village with broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia.

A DUTCH MAN dubbed by French media the “dentist of horror” was set to go on trial today after allegedly causing horrific injuries to the mouths of more than 100 patients in France.

Jacobus van Nierop, 51, ripped out healthy teeth and left dozens of patients in a remote French village with broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia.

He is charged with aggravated assault, as well as fraud over claims that he tried to rip off patients and insurance companies, and faces up to 10 years in prison and a €150,000 fine if found guilty.

His case is being heard at a court in Nevers in central France, near the rural area of Chateau-Chinon where he came to work in 2008.

Van Nierop, who went by the first name of Mark, was hired by a head-hunter and was initially welcomed by locals who were sorely lacking in medical services.

A neighbour recalled the arrival of a smiley, larger-than-life character, with a “big 4×4, a big dog, a big cigar”.

But by 2011, the authorities were starting to question some of his accounting, and patients were starting to compare notes on his dentistry.

Sylviane Boulesteix, 65, visited the dentist in March 2012 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,” she said.

An 80-year-old, Bernard Hugon, said the dentist left “pieces of flesh hanging everywhere” after tearing out a tooth.

“Every time, he would give us what he called ‘a little prick’ and we were asleep, knocked out,” said Nicole Martin, a retired teacher who lost several teeth to abscesses caused by the horrific operations.

“When it was over, we would find a Post-it note saying to come back for an appointment the next day or the day after,” she added.

Having absconded, van Nierop was eventually tracked down to a small Canadian town in New Brunswick in Canada and arrested under an international warrant in September 2014.

Local media reported that he tried to slit his throat when police came for him.

Van Nierop tried to block his extradition, first to the Netherlands and then France, claiming to suffer from “psychological problems” including gender identity issues and suicidal tendencies, but he was eventually placed in a prison psychiatric unit in the Loiret department, south of Paris.

“He claimed to have killed his first wife, he played crazy, he said he was trans-sexual. He tried everything” to avoid extradition, Martin said.

© AFP, 2016

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    Mute Dean Anderson
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    May 15th 2014, 2:19 PM

    Ireland should have some formal way of rewarding and honouring its citizens. The president could present them each year for achievement, charity work etc. in various fields

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    Mute Rawoc
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    May 15th 2014, 2:27 PM

    This is long overdue and would be a worthy scheme to acknowledge the contribution of people in our society who make special contributions but we would need special measures to ensure independence and freedom from overt political influence!

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    Mute Jeremy Usborne
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    May 15th 2014, 3:24 PM

    Isn’t there a ‘Presidents medal’ of some kind?

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    Mute Dylan
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    May 15th 2014, 3:56 PM

    You receive something similar from the president for completing the gold Gaisce award, thats the only similar thing I can think of though what you can do to achieve a Gaisce award is a lot more restricted than an OBE or other awards.

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    Mute Alan Kennedy
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    May 15th 2014, 4:35 PM

    I don’t agree. It would just be abused by politicians for back slaps and laughs.

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    Mute Dylan Drein
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    May 15th 2014, 4:46 PM

    Jesus Christ is that the song that’s going to be played every time some new positive development is suggested, “no we can’t because politicians”? For an island of over 4,500,000 people I think we can do some things without mentioning one of the 166 people sitting in the Dáil. An award recognising the talents and achievements of our own is long overdue at this stage. Would she have been recognised at all in her field if she had stayed and done her research here in Ireland? Probably not, which is a bit embarrassing for us if you ask me.

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    Mute cosmological
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    May 15th 2014, 2:17 PM

    Wonderful – science is paramount.

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    Mute RiobairdOMaingain
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    May 15th 2014, 4:53 PM

    How can awards like that exist when there is no empire? Just seems a bit odd getting an Order of the British Empire when there isn’t one to start with.

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    Mute Niall Keaveney
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    May 15th 2014, 6:21 PM

    I’d love to be awarded an OBE. So I could tell them where to shove it.

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    Mute John Curry
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    May 15th 2014, 2:28 PM

    anyone know what the restrictions are?

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    Mute J. Dunn
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    May 15th 2014, 3:37 PM

    2 for 1 drinks at Parliament bar on Mondays 4:00-5:30.

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    Mute James O'Shea
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    May 15th 2014, 10:39 PM

    Re introduce The Order of Saint Patrick???

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