“He made me miserable… there are no words!”: after “a month of hell”, a mother cries out her despair during her child's trial

Me Euria Thomasian assurait la défense de ce jeune Alésien jugé ce lundi 30 septembre. MIDI LIBRE – CHARLES LEDUC

Un Alésien au lourd passé judiciaire a été jugé, ce lundi 30 septembre, après s’en être pris à ses proches.

Tears flowed, both in the dock and in the courtroom of the Alès Criminal Court, in the Gard, this Monday, September 30, during the trial of a 27-year-old repeat offender, tried in immediate appearance after having threatened, insulted and been violent towards his parents and one of his sisters. This, while his mother has been hosting him since his release from detention on September 4. The latter held out for several weeks, but ended up reporting to the police what she and the relatives of this young man, addicted to drugs, particularly crack, were enduring. And she ended up filing a complaint.

Conflicts "over trifles"

Very often, all of this happens "over trifles", notes Kellian Blanchet, the presiding judge. And“It's recurrent, daily”, he emphasizes, repeating the sister's statements, made during her deposition at the Alès police station. When questioned, the accused mentions “very big arguments” and denies certain facts, including violence with a knife. “I put them on myself”, insists this man who self-harmed and swallowed a number of medications before his arrest this weekend, and has continued to attack himself since his arrest. If his mother and sister said this, he supposes it is because“they are probably fed up with (him), because we argue every day”. And the insults ? He denounces that he regained his freedom without the psychiatric treatment he underwent during his 17 months of incarceration : “When I go into a state of crisis, I no longer control myself. I can insult everyone ; I don't deny it…"

"It's not possible to live like this", says her sister

Called to the bar, her mother speaks of "repeated violence for seven years", but says that the situation "has gotten worse" in recent weeks. “He made me miserable… there are no words ! He's not a bad boy, deep down. But he wasn't taken care of for the right things. I'm afraid of him", she says, asking that he be treated, really. Mathilde Pagès, associate judge, intervenes: “Your son must understand that we cannot heal ourselves in his place […] We do not have that magic wand." After his father, separated from his mother and towards whom the defendant harbors a strong grudge, has spoken, the sister speaks in turn: “We have always been there for him, despite all the harm he has done to us. As long as he is not treated, he will be a danger to us […] It is not possible to live like this."

The defendant bursts into tears and feels misunderstood

The defendant hears his relatives, then feels "sadness" and“anger”. He bursts into tears and feels misunderstood, says he does this to attract attention. “But they never understood that; that's what makes me angry”, says this young man from Alès, before talking about the interview he just had with a psychiatrist, who clearly knew how to speak out. She has just allowed him to talk about sexual assaults he allegedly suffered as a teenager. And his family didn't know that…

A warrant of arrest is required

"It's true that here, generally, it's never very joyful", begins Perrine Grégoire-Marchand, for the prosecution, before emphasizing “the special atmosphere in this room. With a lot of emotion.” But she remembers “two words in this file" : “fear" and “distress". She acknowledges that “Mister is not well” but she considers, overall, that the offences are established. “For a month of hell”, she requests 18 months in prison, the revocation of two months of probation and a committal order.

“I saw a person in deep distress who was crying for help”

In defence, Me Euria Thomasian said "extremely sensitive to the suffering" of her client : “I saw a person in deep distress who was crying for help […] What he wants to destroy, above all, is what he hates about himself…" According to the lawyer, prison is not the solution for this man who has 16 mentions on his criminal record. "I want to tell you that he must be hospitalized", she concluded. He then confirms that he “wants (himself) to heal. (He wants) to become a better person.”

The condemned man's anger explodes

The court decides that the defendant must first work on himself in prison. It sentences him to 18 months, with a committal order, but does not revoke his suspended sentence. The Alésien immediately retorts that he will appeal, then lets his anger burst and threatens to “do something” when he learns that he will be imprisoned in Mende.

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