He came to ask a craftsman to put out an illegal fire lit on a construction site on November 14. “It was gone very quickly,” rewinds Yoan Morlot, the mayor of Heuland, in the Pays d’Auge. The intervention of the elected official, described as “weighted” by one of his Calvadosian colleagues, had triggered a flood of insults and threats of attack and death. “There could have been attacks if the Gendarmerie had not quickly intervened,” adds the mayor. His attacker was sentenced this Tuesday to four months of house arrest – under electronic surveillance – by the Lisieux court.
“I was attentive to the judgment. I wanted a real condemnation, said the councilor. Justice needed to send a message: for people to know that we cannot attack those who are committed to the community. We do not deserve these disproportionate reactions. » And to recall the tragedy in August 2019 in Signes, in the Var, where a craftsman fatally knocked down the mayor who had caught him depositing rubble in an unauthorized area.
At the hearing, on April 16, Yoan Morlot encountered a defendant who “did not apologize.” I didn’t feel any regrets. It was a trivialization of aggression in the context of his work. » The court also ordered this 37-year-old craftsman to pay damages. A judgment welcomed by the Union of Mayors of Calvados, which had filed a civil suit. Treating in Caen, the first magistrate of the Calvados village of 150 inhabitants had three days off, time to deal with this story, the first of his life on the legal front. The incident of November 14 still lingers in his mind: “I will be even more vigilant in sensitive situations.” Yoan Morlot claims to have turned the page, also thanks to the many signs of support from his colleagues and administrators.
