Ewan Gale
Tuesday, September 14, 2021 14:15 – Update: 14:16
A British F1 fan was arrested at gunpoint in the Netherlands last week after being mistaken by police for a Sicilian mafia boss.
The 54-year-old Liverpool man, who has only been named “Mark L”, was captured in the Dutch capital The Hague last week after attending the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort the previous weekend.
Police believe they have captured the head of the 59-year-old mafia, Matteo Messina Denaro, who has a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities for bombings in 1993 that killed 10 and injured nearly 100.
According to the Dutch channel NOS, F1 fan Mark L was in a restaurant with his son when the police blindfolded him.
Lawyer Leon van Kleed said, “It’s like a bad movie, a nightmare my client has been in.
“Imagine one moment you eat a bite and the next you sit in a maximum security Dutch prison.”
It was later established that Mark L is not the gift of the mob and has now been released.