Tuesday June 25, two men were tried before the Nîmes court for car theft during a meeting and for blackmail. The two accomplices threatened the victim to file a complaint against her for rape if she did not give €1,000.
Ugo, a young man aged 21 at the time of the events, reconnects with a former friend he met through sports. The two men begin to have intimate exchanges through messages. They end up agreeing to a date on January 16, 2022. Ugo asks “T” for the sum of €500 in exchange for sex that day. Bargain.
This January 16, 2022, the two men therefore meet at a gas station. “T” arrives by car at 9:10 p.m. Ugo is waiting for him but he is not alone… Three individuals accompany him, including two minors. “T” stops, says hello to his friend and the young attackers climb into his vehicle. One of them, Rachid, gets in on the passenger side, the others are in the back of the car.
“Give me €1,000 or I will file a complaint against you for rape of a minor!” Rachid threatens. The victim takes the road and heads home, still with the four “accomplices” in his vehicle. Under pressure, he stops at a red light and takes the opportunity to flee. The victim will file a complaint against the four individuals. The two minors were tried separately in juvenile court last September.
Turnaround
Ugo and Rachid were tried this Tuesday, June 25 before the Nîmes criminal court for theft in a meeting and attempted blackmail. While they were friends, Ugo will make surprising revelations. “I wrote these messages but I was forced by Rachid. He forced me. For several years he took money from me. I am not homosexual but I was ready to have sex with “T” and then give the €500 to Rachid”he explains.
A curious version because during his various hearings, Ugo never mentioned this situation. “I was still under the influence. As he is in prison, today I feel like speaking”, he asserts before the Nîmes court. Indeed, since December 21, Rachid has been in detention for another case. “He has already hit me and threatened me and my family. For him, I even stole €10,000 from my mother,” adds Ugo.
During the judgment, Rachid was by videoconference. On the other side of the screen, the version is different. “I never took a euro from Ugo. He lived at my parents’ house and I paid for his cigarettes, his drugs and his food. He lied to me, he told me that this man had touched him at badminton and that he had been sexually assaulted, I wanted to take justice into my own hands,” confides Rachid.
The public prosecutor gives her requisitions: “We have had several cases of the same nature with victims lured on social networks to be robbed. It’s a real ambush. Ugo comes to try to talk and says that he was influenced but it’s easy to blame Rachid for everything. I ask for 18 months in prison for Ugo. For Rachid I propose three years of imprisonment and a complete revocation of his probationary sentence.”
The Nîmes court sentenced Ugo to one year in prison under an electronic bracelet. Rachid received two years in prison with a revocation of his one-year probationary suspension and a committal warrant. In total, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
