Dendermonde (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A 17-year-old was seriously stabbed in Dendermonde on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2025. Police arrested 6 suspects (1 adult, 5 minors). Authorities cite youth care shortages as a factor in the incident.
AS VRT News reported, police arrested 6 people in a stabbing that occurred in Dendermonde on October 7, 2025. A 17-year-old boy was seriously injured. One suspect is an adult with a previous attempted murder record. The other 5 are minors between 14 and 17 years old.
“You can never predict the future, but who knows, maybe none of this would have happened if those two minors had actually been placed in care,”
De Wilde said.
What caused the Dendermonde stabbing?
The East Flanders public prosecutor’s office pointed to a shortage of youth care placements. 2 of the minors had recently been ordered by a juvenile court judge to be placed in closed youth care facilities. However, there were no spaces available, so the orders were not carried out.
“At least one of the minors should be in a secure facility now,”
said spokesperson Lisa De Wilde.
The East Flanders public prosecutor’s office said the problem is not the confinement of young people, but the lack of proper support in closed youth care facilities. Spokesperson Lisa De Wilde said,
“In a closed facility, we can provide much more intensive support to young people. Currently, these young people haven’t received this support due to a lack of space.”
She added that the minors were still monitored.
“The juvenile prosecutor’s office worked closely with local police regarding these young people. However, time and again, we reach the limits of the closed institutions’ capacity,”
De Wilde explained.
“Time and again we encounter the limits of capacity in closed institutions.”
Lisa De Wilde, spokesperson for the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office
Officials mentioned that the recent stabbing in Dendermonde shows the consequences of the shortage of youth care placements.
“Now another 17-year-old has become a victim. Despite many warning signs from the youth care sector, a solution has not been found,”
the prosecutor’s office said.
Minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) announced reforms to improve youth care earlier this week. Authorities hope the reforms will increase capacity and provide better support for at-risk young people.
Belgium has seen similar incidents where minors committed serious crimes while waiting for placement in youth care facilities. In 2024, 774 unaccompanied refugee children went missing, including 101 cases considered particularly alarming, showing gaps in supervision. In 2025, 31 minors were arrested in Antwerp for drug-related offences, a sharp rise from previous years.
