This Tuesday, April 30, the Cusset court sentenced a man to eight months in prison, including four months suspended, for acts of violence with a weapon and carrying a bladed weapon without legitimate reason as a repeat offender.
The events occurred on Sunday April 28, around 4:15 p.m., between the Town Hall and Place de la Poste in Vichy. When the police arrived on the scene, they noticed a fight between two individuals. A passerby who witnessed the scene indicated that one of the men involved hid a handgun in his child’s stroller. The partner of the man in question handed over the weapon and ammunition to the police.
On the question of what really happened, there are two opposing versions. But, this April 30, in court only one man appeared, the other not having been prosecuted, nor having initiated proceedings following this “brawl”. Ironically, it is the one who contacted the police who is in court to answer for his actions.
The airsoft revolver placed in a bag attached to the stroller
What the thirty-year-old says is that while leaving the races that day, with his partner and their 7-month-old baby, he came across an old acquaintance.
The accused’s companion added that following an exchange between the two men, in a language she did not know, “probably Creole”, the blows began to fly. “I had never seen this man, but he has already attacked my partner,” she assured during her hearing.
The resident of Cusset activates her phone in great danger facing a violent ex-partner
To defend himself from the acquaintance who threatens the death of his wife and baby, according to him, the man takes an airsoft revolver from a bag attached to the stroller and shoots it three times. The victim responded with the only object he had at hand, his motorcycle helmet, also delivering several blows. The defendant, having no more ammunition, then takes out a Laguiole-type knife to “threaten” the victim. “I didn’t want to hurt him. It was just to scare him.” Then, following the call to the police, they threw paving stones at each other.
“In Vichy, everyone goes out armed. There are madmen everywhere. I’m afraid of being attacked there.”
The accused (empty)
“Custody made Me think, I’m sorry, fortunately I didn’t pierce his arm,” added the defendant in tears, only to then return to the version of the facts and say that he did not acted only in self-defense. To explain the carrying of weapons in court, he once again apologized, saying he was “sorry to carry around with that”.
A “high intensity of violence”
However, he has already been convicted of carrying a weapon and is therefore a repeat offender. In total, he has six convictions to his credit. It is moreover to escape quite heavy liabilities that he would have settled in Tarbes with his partner. “We returned to Vichy three weeks ago, so that my wife could see her three children.” The couple would therefore seriously consider settling permanently in the Hautes-Pyrénées. At the RSA, the defendant does not have a driving license, but is in the process of finding a job.
“Get away, I’m going to kill you”: a forty-year-old gets an eight-month suspended prison sentence for aggravated violence
Faced with the facts stated, the public prosecutor, Eric Neveu, declared:
“We will not really know the merits of the dispute, but there is a major principle in criminal law, that of indifference of motives.” The prosecutor thus referred to the “high intensity of violence” in this case, adding that the facts were completely “characterized”. “Finally, the stone throwing seems almost anecdotal After all that.”
As a result, he requested 18 months in prison with a committal warrant, a ban on appearing in Vichy and Cusset for three years, and on carrying and possessing a weapon for five years.
“I’m not saying the defendant is a Nobel Prize winner, but he had the presence of mind to call the police.”
Me Pignaud (Defense lawyer)
The defense lawyer, Me Pignaud, focused her argument on the shared responsibilities in this case, and the lack of hearing from witnesses, much “more neutral, who observed the scene”. She asked that her client be placed on an electronic bracelet, stressing that it is “unfair that he finds himself judged alone when he himself contacted the police”.
After deliberation, the Cusset court decided to find the defendant guilty. He received an eight-month prison sentence, including four months suspended, with a probationary period of two years, as well as the obligation to seek treatment and work. The firm part will be carried out using an electronic bracelet. He is prohibited from appearing in Vichy and Cusset, and from carrying or holding a weapon.
In court, Chloé Goigoux
