The fifty-year-old drug addict is accused of more than forty thefts in the Écusson in Montpellier

Un vol déclaré dans l'hôtel des frères Pourcel place de la Canourgue est à l'origine de l'enquête.RDHUL20220621 Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

A notorious drug addict, this 50-year-old Montpellier woman committed petty thefts in the center of Montpellier. In total, he has been accused of 45 thefts of opportunity or deception in recent months. She was presented this Friday before the judicial court.

Football shorts and French team jersey on her shoulders, she is a small, sickly woman who was presented this Friday before the judicial court. A notorious drug addict, this fifty-year-old resident in the city center has been accused of more than forty thefts committed in recent months in the Écusson area. Thefts carried out according to opportunity or by trickery: theft of cell phones placed carelessly, of credit cards, in homes, warehouses.

Tablets stolen from the Pourcels

At the end of a meticulous investigation (read below), the investigators from the central police station assigned to the Écusson sector accused her of forty-five thefts or frauds (contactless payment with stolen credit cards). During her police custody, Frédérique admitted forty-three of them.

Investigations began on June 19: two digital tablets were reported missing from the reception area of ​​the Pourcel brothers' hotel-restaurant on Place de la Canourgue. The thief took advantage of a moment of inattention on the part of the staff to grab them and flee. It quickly became apparent that several complaints filed at the police station described the same modus operandi and Frédérique was identified several times by the victims.

In pretrial detention

Before the judges this Friday, the fifty-year-old did not seek to downplay her involvement. Her criminal record already shows multiple convictions for similar acts, including one, a six-month prison sentence handed down in April 2023 but not executed. A delinquent activity that can be explained by her strong and long addiction to hard drugs, heroin first, then crack, more recently.

With her lawyer, she requested a delay before being judged as well as the execution of a psychiatric assessment in order to help her break with her addictive practices. “I intend to get back on my feet” she assured. Her request for release was, however, rejected by the judges, in accordance with the requests of the public prosecutor. “We may not have found anything at her place, but we must also think of the victims. The disturbance of public order is real. The repetition of the facts, the addiction are major elements of the absence of guarantees of representation” he had insisted a little earlier.

Frédérique will be judged on September 13.