“A horrifying, absurd scene”: in the north of Gard, he attacks the police and firefighters who came to rescue him, he is sentenced to three years in prison

The police, like the firefighters, attended the trial of this resident of Les Mages. MIDI LIBRE – CHARLES LEDUC

The accused, a drug addict who had failed treatment at the time of the events, threatened to kill the victims and blew blood in their direction, saying that he was a carrier of AIDS and hepatitis C. This man living in Les Mages was tried on Thursday, August 22, before the Alès criminal court.

On July 8, early in the afternoon, in Les Mages, a village located in the north of Gard, the parents of a 34-year-old man called the police in Saint-Ambroix because their son, a drug addict who had failed to receive treatment, was in crisis. They argued and the thirty-year-old grabbed the hunting rifle that he wanted to sell to get money. When they arrived, the soldiers managed to calm the situation and this individual agreed to be hospitalized. But “there is a shift” when the firefighters arrive. He then increases his pressure ; he is "tased" and has to be tied up ; and when he is sedated through the nose, he blows blood forcefully and spits in the direction of the emergency services, saying that he has AIDS and hepatitis C. And he takes advantage of this to threaten them with death.

What sentence does the prosecution require ?

The psychiatric assessment of this repeat offender under guardianship reveals that, on that day, his discernment was abolished. Before the Alès Criminal Court on Thursday, August 22, the accused, who has been in custody since the events, had difficulty expressing himself and said he did not remember everything. The deputy public prosecutor, Quentin Larroque, spoke of a “appalling scene”, “grotesque”, and indicated that “this case corresponds to everything that cannot be tolerated, to what undermines the social contract”. He is requesting three years in prison, one of which is suspended on probation, and continued detention.

A requested sentence unsuitable for his personality, according to the defense

Me Coralie Gay, in defense, has known the defendant for a long time and is "here to explain a situation", that he has changed since his last conviction in 2020. She specifies that her client "experienced this intervention as a trauma" and hammers home, in view of his personality, that "the requested sentence is not suitable. He needs to get treatment and continue his development."

The bench is more severe than the prosecution

The court goes beyond the indictment. This thirty-year-old is sentenced to three years, with continued detention. From the outset, the defense lawyer does not hide her intention to appeal the decision.

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