A jealous Belgian teacher was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for the murder of a love rival who plunged to her death in a skydive after her parachute was sabotaged. Els Clottemans, 26, was found guilty on Wednesday of cutting through key parts of the parachute system of 38-year-old Els Van Doren before the two jumped with their mutual lover, a Dutchman, and another man in November 2006.
The 30-year sentence means, under Belgian law, that Clottemans will serve a minimum of 10 years in jail. Prosecutor Patrick Boyen had earlier called for a life sentence, saying there were no mitigating circumstances. Defence lawyer Katrien Van der Straeten said Clottemans' youth and clean criminal record should lessen the penalty, as well as the fact that she had lost her father at the age of two.
"Do not close the door fully, but give her a ray of hope," she said. Clottemans chose not to speak at the sentencing. Van Doren, married with two children, smashed into a back garden from some 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) because both her main and reserve chutes failed to open in the jump, which was recorded by a camera on her helmet.