A homeless person appeared on Thursday for a series of thefts and damages committed in Pêchereau and Argenton-sur-Creuse. This forty-year-old sails between the north of France and Indre, where he has ties.
He lives only on RSA and also maintains a heavy consumption of alcohol and drugs. This Sunday, May 26, he is looking for money to satisfy his addictions. He successively managed to break into a house in Pêchereau, then into the basement of another home. In total, €550 was stolen as well as jewelry, a check book, a carton of cigarettes… A few hours later, he was spotted at the table of a café in Argenton-sur-Creuse, where he revealed a checkbook which is clearly not in his name.
A few glasses of alcohol later, he disappears into the night and manages to enter one of the most beautiful hotel sites in Argenton-sur-Creuse. He steals room keys, steals the cash, two bank cards, then settles into one of the very comfortable rooms of the manor.
“Drink a little and watch TV”
“I just wanted to sleep in a real bed”, he explained on Thursday to the magistrates who were hearing him as part of an immediate appearance. A real bed, but also “drink a little and watch TV”.
Beyond the flights, “the problem is that you have totally defiled this room, pointed out President Christophe Geoffroy. You crushed your cigarette butts on the carpet” and worse, “defecated” on this same carpet. “Can you explain why?” » The man – known to be very provocative – explains about the cigarettes, “ that there was no ashtray in the room” and for the other degradation: “I wanted to leave a memory in this mansion.”
After trying to flee, he was arrested in the early morning by the police.
“The rules, the constraints… he doesn’t care”
During his trial on Thursday, Me Brice Tayon, who defended the interests of those responsible for the hotel, spoke about the state of the room: “A mattress soaked in alcohol, the carpet burnt and soiled. » And then on the personality of the accused: “The rules, the constraints, he doesn’t care. He is continually provoked and all his actions make him laugh. This is truly unbearable for the victims. »
The comments went in the same direction for the public prosecutor. “He explains that he steals to survive, but that’s not true. » With the stolen money “he buys alcohol, then he breaks into a hotel room, where, for no real reason, he damages everything. He is engaging in unacceptable antisocial behavior. » The prosecution requested six months in prison.
His defender, Me Jérémy Schuletzki, estimated that “all these facts could have been avoided, since his presence in the city was reported on several occasions. In particular, when he was with this stolen checkbook on the terrace of a café. » As for his provocations “repeated and unjustified, they unfortunately remain, according to his words, the only strength he has”.
At the end of these exchanges, “the man who wanted to sleep in a real bed” was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with continued detention. He will also have to pay the hotel victim of his actions the sum of €1,939 for material damage and €500 for moral damage. His other victims will also receive €1,560 for material and moral damages.
