Heavily convicted in a shooting case and banned from staying in Alès, he was seen in the Cévennes and arrested

The trial was held on the afternoon of Monday, January 22, at the Alès court. FREE MIDI – CHARLES LEDUC

The accused said he was coming to see his sick mother. Before the criminal court of the capital of the Cévennes, he was sentenced, in immediate appearance, this Monday, January 22, to an electronic bracelet which he will have to keep for eight months.

The man who appears in the defendants' box at the Alès court, this Monday, January 22, is far from being unknown to the justice system. Aged 23, he was implicated in the shooting at the Alésien tea room “Les délices orientals”, which occurred in October 2019 on the Bilina quay. Tried with his associates in April 2022, he was sentenced to five years in prison. After pre-trial detention and serving his sentence in a cell, he was released from detention last July, and was released from his electronic bracelet in November.

He is arrested, according to the police, near a deal point

Problem: while he is still banned from staying in Alès, he who now lives in Salles-du-Gardon was arrested by a crew from the anti-crime brigade (BAC) who ;rsquo;recognized, in the Cévennes district, on the night of January 18 to 19, around half past midnight. Or, according to law enforcement, at the time a deal point closes. On him, officials discovered a knife, which he said he bought during a recent ski weekend, and two grams of hash, for his personal consumption, he said.

"I didn't know I was risking prison", said the defendant

During his custody and to his judges, the young man explained that he was visiting his sick mother: "The neighborhood is on the road; I was going there on foot." He had not yet made a request to lift the ban on going to his mother's house and, violating this ban, he ’ quot;didn't think it was going to go far like that. When Marie-Lucie Godard, the president of the hearing, speaks about the point of deal, she replies that he was arrested “far” from this place. The judge tells him that it is difficult to believe him: "Why find yourself at midnight in a neighborhood where you have every chance of being arrested ?" He is defends: "I didn't know that I was risking prison. I didn’t do anything; I have not committed a crime. I was leaving my mother's house, that's all!"

"It's not okay to judge someone based on their past"

Nathalie Welte, the deputy public prosecutor, then wants to know why he did not give the police the unlock code for his cell phone. “Because I didn’t want to,” he explains. "I’have some personal things…" The president immediately shares the "suspicion" of the headquarters. Which makes the accused jump a little: "It’it’is not good to judge someone in relation to their past." "But that does a lot of things…", notes the judge.

Ten months are required by the public prosecutor

The prosecution returns to the reasons, linked to the facts of 2019, why "we cannot let him wander where they were committed". Eight months in prison are required, but the public prosecutor does not object to them being served under an electronic bracelet…

The defense requests "a fair decision"

Defense counsel, Me Sophie Bonnaud denounces "the’interpretation" of the investigators, their "suppositions". She recalls that her client was "cooperative" during the arrest, which took place "without the use of handcuffs". For the lawyer, who provides proof that the mother is ill, "there is a gap between what we might think of the situation and what happened’ past". She calls for "a fair decision" which "does not cancel out all the efforts" of this young person to reintegrate.

He will not return to detention. Indeed, the court sentences him to eight months of imprisonment, which he will serve under an electronic bracelet.

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