Convicted Antwerp hospitality boss removes ankle tag to attend festival
It seems clear to me that none of us can wait until festival season gets underway. The first outdoor parties have already taken place, and we’re only at the beginning of summer. Yes! That must also have been what Ladislas L. thought, a well-known (and notorious) Antwerp hospitality boss. One problem: he wears an ankle tag. It didn’t stop him from going to Extrema Outdoor anyway. Without the ankle tag, that is.
There are wild rumors about where exactly he left the ankle tag. It is said, for example, that L. taped the ankle tag to the leg of his English bulldog Louise. That rumor has not been confirmed by the authorities. But the fact that L. himself was partying ankle-tag-free at dance festival Extrema Outdoor is certain.
Alarm bells
L. had apparently shared footage of his visit to the festival on social media himself. Moreover, alarm bells went off at the Flemish Centre for Electronic Monitoring (VCET)—which monitors the use of ankle tags by convicted offenders. An employee of the VCET told Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that they have several ways of checking the use of an ankle tag.
For example, they can see whether the ankle tag is in contact with the skin and whether the connected monitoring box has moved from its position. It is not clear exactly how they discovered that L. was not wearing his tag. His footage on social media will certainly not have helped.
As if it were his last day
L. is an extravagant hospitality boss from Antwerp. Among other things, he ran the Holy Food Market in Ghent and restaurant Coco in Antwerp, both of which have since gone bankrupt. At the end of 2023, L. was convicted of raping a 19-year-old student. The crime took place in 2021. The hospitality boss received a four-year prison sentence, three years of which were suspended. He was allowed to serve his sentence at home—with that ankle tag, of course.
The VCET immediately warned the Antwerp police when they noticed that L. was not wearing his ankle tag. They went to check whether L. was at home, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was at Extrema Outdoor. Partying as if it were his last day.
Well, it was probably his last day of freedom for the time being. Last Monday, L. went to the police station himself to turn himself in. The man will (rightly) have to serve the rest of his sentence behind bars. At least he managed to attend one festival this year.
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Sources: Het Laatste Nieuws, Gazet van Antwerpen
