‘Butcher’ dentist who 'enjoyed causing pain’ jailed by French court for 8yrs

A Dutch dentist has been jailed in France for eight years for causing horrific injuries to his patients. Jacobus van Nierop, 51, was also banned from practising as a dentist and fined €10,500 (£8,146) for ripping out healthy teeth and leaving patients with injuries including broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia. Prosecutor Lucile Jaillon-Bru told the court in the central town of Nevers that Van Nierop - who called himself Mark - “took pleasure at causing pain” to his patients. He had carried out “useless and painful procedures” on about 100 patients with the sole aim of getting money from medical insurance schemes.

He gave me seven or eight injections, and pulled out eight teeth in one go. I was gushing blood for three days.

Sylviane Boulesteix, 65, who went to have braces fitted in 2012

The dentist practised in the small central town of Chateau-Chinon after being recruited by a head-hunter to an area that lacked medical services. The court was told that locals initially welcomed the cheerful, larger-than-life character with his “big 4x4, a big dog, a big cigar” but, by 2011, patients were beginning to tell terrible stories about his practice while the authorities were looking into his accounting methods. Van Nierop who, under French law, did not have to enter a plea, tried to explain away his behaviour by saying he suffered from “psychological problems” including gender identity issues and suicidal tendencies.

Dutch dentist