Convicted of terrorizing neighbors at her residence in Montpellier

Le calvaire des résidents durait depuis longtemps. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

"I'm a little borderline but I can take care of myself!" Lucile, 39, appears before the criminal court for violence and death threats committed against four neighbors of her residence. Two are present to testify, and others are in the audience.

If the facts stretch over a month, between March 13 and April 12, we quickly understand that the ordeal of the inhabitants of the Le Saint-Pierre residence, route de Lodève, had lasted since much longer.

It was in 2020 that Lucile moved into the residence, it was also during the Covid era that she confided having stopped working. “I suffer from anxiety and paranoia,” she says. Alcohol and cocaine, which she admitted to consuming regularly, didn't help anything. In November 2023, she was convicted, like her partner, for mutual violence.

After miming a throat-slitting gesture towards a neighbor, she was referred on March 19, before violating her judicial control, which prohibited her from approaching her neighbors… the next day!

"The only violence I committed was to break a meter", she says. She threw a chair on a neighbor, slapped a 78 year old man for no reason, knocked on doors with a knife.

But beyond the facts which brought her before the court, "she reigned terror day and night in the residence", observes the lawyer of the civil parties. "People didn’not even dare to leave their homes anymore".

"Four years of hell"

The testimonies of her neighbors are unequivocal: "She unleashed her staff dog on the children, threw eggs at the windows, made racist remarks, took all the fire extinguishers to store them in her home, knocked on the doors night, threatened to blow up the building with gas, vandalized cars, tried to force locks, cut electrical wires…"

In court, however, it is she who claims to have "lived four years of hell", before pointing out that her "discernment was impaired" quot;, which the expert actually recognized. Hospitalized in a psychiatric ward, then placed in pre-trial detention, she does not seem to realize the harm and pain she has caused. Some victims are traumatized.

"It’s moral harassment that should be in question, observes the prosecutor. With it, we are on the verge of the abolition of discernment and we need continued care regarding it. Today, either she is released and the threats will start again, or she is incarcerated knowing that this is not the solution." She required 12 months of detention ;imprisonment, 6 of which were suspended.

"This sentence is disproportionate to the facts and the personality of the defendant, replied the latter’s lawyer. My client also suffered from these degraded neighborhood relations. Today, she has resumed her treatment and wants to resume her life.

"I want to pack my boxes and move,” admitted Lucile who was ultimately sentenced to 10 months in prison, 6 of which were suspended. Upon her release, she will have to seek treatment, compensate her victims and will be prohibited from appearing at Saint-Pierre, whose residents will also be able to resume their lives.

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