“I admit the facts, it was totally stupid. » Charged with endangering others, a 23-year-old man was at the heart of a case judged on Wednesday November 27, 2024, before the Coutances criminal court (Manche). The news item dates back to December 2023 in his apartment in downtown Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, following a report from local residents of shots fired in the night.
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Testimonies and video surveillance made it possible to trace the accused's home. He admitted three shots “blank” in his apartment. “With a small revolver”, specifies the man, member of a sports shooting club. The gendarmerie found a number of weapons at his home “quite impressive”according to the president of the court, weapons seized during the search. “I have been a collector and passionate about weapons since the age of 15, when I was an intern in a museum specializing in weapons. » In fact, he did “the stupidity of opening the window to ventilate”which naturally alerted the neighbors.
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Relaxation and exemption from punishment
The second defendant is a 40-year-old man, also a member of a sports shooting club. He admits to having fired once, also blank, with a shotgun from the window of the same apartment. “Out of curiosity about this weapon. I wanted to give it a try, it was totally stupid. »
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The defendants have a clean criminal record. The prosecutor pleaded four months suspended sentence against the collector, and six months suspended sentence against the second defendant. The defense lawyers pleaded the absence of endangering others, in a deserted street. They were interviewed, the two defendants were released. A retiree and the collector's wife, accused of transporting weapons to a gunsmith in order to buy protective covers, were exempted from sentences.
