Footballer Rai Vloet gets 2.5 year prison sentence after high speed crash kills 4-year-old boy

A court in the Dutch city of Haarlem has found footballer Rai Vloet guilty of reckless driving in a vehicular accident that killed a four-year-old boy.

The events took place on November 14, 2021. According to the court, Rai Vloet was driving his brand new sports car on the A4 near Hoofddorp while intoxicated and at a speed over 200 km/h.

Photo: Instagram - @raivloet

Vloet's car collided with another vehicle carrying a family of four from Zoetermeer.  The accident caused the death of a four-year-old boy named Gio, who died when the footballer collided with his family's car, RTL Nieuws reported.

Although the prosecution had asked for three and a half years in prison for Rai Vloet, the judge ultimately sentenced him to two and a half years in prison, as well as a four-year driving ban, as reported by HBVL.

The footballer, who currently plays for Ural Yekaterinburg in Russia, was not present at the sentencing hearing, as he was in Russia fulfilling club duties, as reported by the aforementioned media outlet.

At the moment, it is not known whether the footballer's lawyers will appeal the sentence, what is known is that they have asked he serves his sentence in the Netherlands.

During the trial, Rai Vloet confessed to having had "two or three glasses of alcohol" before driving. According to data collected by the footballer's vehicle, at the time of the accident he was traveling at 203 km/h (127mph) on a motorway where the maximum speed is 130 km/h.

However, the prosecutor assumed a speed of 193 km/h at the time of the accident, considering the margin of error applicable in these cases.

What is surprising about the incident, as reported by HBVL, and as exposed during the trial, is that the footballer held the accelerator pedal to full, without attempting to brake or steer, at the moment he hit the other vehicle.

The judge accused Vloet of having committed "tremendous irresponsibility for driving with too much alcohol and too fast".

During the proceedings, the judge also reminded the footballer that "his actions have caused an irreversible loss, therefore no amount of punishment will be able to alleviate the mourning and pain".

For her part, the mother of the deceased child blamed Rai Vloet for what happened, making it clear that no sentence would help her get over her son's death.

"Our life stops and you carry on as if nothing serious has happened. Go play football in Kazakhstan and Russia," Gio's mother scolded the 27-year-old midfielder on social media.

Photo: Instagram - @raivloet

Indeed, after the incident, Rai Vloet was suspended by his team, Heracles Almelo, and confessed that "the Netherlands has become unbearable", so he opted to change team.

In March 2022, four months after the incident, Rai Vloet signed for FC Astana of Kazakhstan. Six months later, in September 2022, he would leave for Ural Yekaterinburg in Russia.

It remains to be seen whether Rai Vloet will appeal or choose to serve his sentence – or where the court thinks he should serve it.