“It’s over. This is completely over!” : after a “prison shock”, a thief assures, in front of his judges, that he will change his behavior

The accused was tried this Monday, March 18, before the Alès criminal court. FREE MIDI – CHARLES LEDUC

A Montpellier man was caught stealing from stores in Alès. During his trial on Monday, March 18, he was sentenced to nine months in prison. But he escapes continued detention.

On March 13, this 53-year-old from Montpellier was surprised, in a store in Alès, stealing a tracksuit and a T-shirt. When he was arrested, the police discovered a lithium booster in his possession, which he had just stolen from another store. First placed in pre-trial detention, he was tried this Monday, March 18, before the criminal court of the capital of the Cévennes. In immediate appearance because, explains the prosecution, this man, for similar facts, had just received a six-month suspended sentence on February 12. "Given what we found in your car, we say to ourselves that this is your mode of operation, of survival", says Claire Sarode, the president of the hearing.< /p>

The defendant bursts into tears

Seeing his numerous relatives sitting in the room, this fifty-year-old, who recognizes everything, bursts into tears. He is visibly marked by his three days of pre-trial detention: "It’s over. Completely finished with all that!" His lawyer, Me Paul Gallix, then evokes the personality of this man, speaks of a health concern which "led to his collapse during Covid".

What are the requisitions of the public prosecutor ?

"I am not going to ask for continued detention; I am well aware that this is a loss of  109 €", replies Nathalie Welte, the vice-prosecutor of the Republic. "If’there was a prison shock, so much the better! It sometimes allows you to become aware of certain things…" It requires three months and the total revocation of last month's suspended sentence, i.e. nine months in prison for which the prosecutor does not say she is opposed to execution using an electronic bracelet. "We could have made a CRPC-referral (i.e. a “plead-guilty”), since I agree with Madam Prosecutor", declares the defense counsel. "These three days have changed everything: it’s hell in prison. We're not going to talk all afternoon."

A potentially flexible prison sentence

After deliberating, the court follows the prosecution's indictment and does not order continued detention. The Montpellier resident, whose sentence can be adjusted, is visibly relieved. Like his loved ones!

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