'Horror Dentist' Learns His Fate

France's "horror dentist" won't get close to a patient's teeth again. Dutchman Jacobus van Nierop, 51, was convicted of aggravated assault and fraud in the French town of Nevers on Tuesday, banned from practicing dentistry, sentenced to eight years in jail, and fined $11,900, reports the Telegraph. Initial reports claimed van Nierop admitted responsibility for maiming 120 patients in the small town of Chateau-Chinon from 2008 to 2012—who suffered broken jaws, recurrent abscesses, and blood poisoning—adding he "wasn't interested in people" and had no memory of his patients, per the BBC.

Van Nierop fled France for Canada after his arrest in 2013 and fought extradition, per the Guardian. He "claimed to have killed his first wife, he played crazy, he said he was trans-sexual," says a member of the victims' association. He was eventually returned to France, where his defense team said he suffered "psychological problems." An expert claimed he wasn't responsible for his actions because of "narcissistic tendencies." A prosecutor, however, said the dentist "took pleasure" in performing "useless and painful procedures." One woman said van Nierop pulled out eight of her teeth, leaving her "gushing blood for three days." (More dentists stories.)