Two men from Slovenia tried for various thefts in France, including more than €17,000 worth of tools in Mende

The two men, one of them in his absence, were tried by the Mende Criminal Court. Midi Libre – Célian Guignard

They were tried by the Mende Criminal Court on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, as part of a referral order from the investigating judge. A third individual, suspected of being their receiver, was acquitted. A look back at a case full of twists and turns.

Two men from Slovenia, the first from Ljubljana, the capital of this small central European country, the second from Nîmes, were tried this Tuesday, October 1, by the Mende Criminal Court. The prosecution reported twelve thefts committed between December 15, 2022 and February 18, 2023.

Each time, high-value professional tools were stolen. The two accomplices went to Laxou (Meurthe-et-Moselle), Coulounieix-Chamiers (Dordogne), Limoges (Haute-Vienne), Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), Gerzat (Puy-de-Dôme) and Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). But it was their theft in Mende that precipitated the end of their criminal epics.

Their car identified by video surveillance

It is 0:30 a.m. on the night of Thursday 15 to Friday 16 December 2022 when the two friends arrive in the Lozère prefecture. They go to the Intermarché car park, where the van of a craftsman whose company is based in Chanac is parked. The two men force the vehicle and steal nearly 17,000 euros worth of equipment, according to the owner's estimates. In the process, they attack a second utility vehicle, which they also empty.

Their car is identified thanks to the video surveillance of the supermarket and the city. A complaint is immediately filed. “On Monday, December 26, 2022, they were checked by chance in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), recalls Me Laura Fabre, from the Nîmes bar, who defended another man during the correctional hearing, initially suspected of being the receiver, before being acquitted.Then, investigations are carried out."

Arrested by the Mende police with the CRS 45

Thanks to the telephone, it appears inescapably that the two defendants are indeed in the various cities already mentioned where the thefts were committed. They then go and resell all this equipment at the flea market in Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône).

The two accomplices are bugged. Their vehicle is also placed under geolocation by the Nîmes Research Section. The investigators are following their trail. They were finally arrested on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in Chassieu, in the Lyon metropolitan area, and placed in police custody. It was the Mende police who made the trip to arrest them, with the help of the CRS 45, and who brought them back to Lozère.

Non-compliance with their judicial supervision

On Thursday, March 2, 2023, they were placed in pretrial detention. On Friday, June 30, four months later, they were released under judicial supervision, in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure. The one born in Slovenia was prohibited from leaving Lozère. He was initially housed by the association La Traverse, in Mende, before being expelled. It was at this point that he broke his judicial supervision and fled to Belgium. A European arrest warrant was issued. He was arrested by the Belgian police on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, before being extradited to France and remanded in custody.

The native of Nîmes, for his part, is forbidden from leaving Bouches-du-Rhône. But he still takes to his heels. To this day, no one knows where he is. He was therefore tried in his absence. His European arrest warrant is still running.

Fifteen months in prison for one, three years for the other

The only defendant in court, sometimes in French, sometimes in Serbo-Croatian thanks to the help of an interpreter reached by telephone, justifies himself by claiming that he was under the influence of his accomplice. A version that did not suit Valéry Morron, who finally requested 36 months in prison for him, including 18 months suspended and continued detention. The public prosecutor requests three years in prison for his friend who has disappeared into thin air, with an arrest warrant.

The first is finally sentenced to 15 months in prison with continued detention. The second, for his part, receives the three years requested by the public prosecutor.

I subscribe to read the rest