An outbreak of violence that occurred in Gruissan was described during the hearing on New Year's Eve, December 23. A man and his partner appeared for violence in a meeting, with, for him, the influence of drugs.
On the morning of December 2, it was still dark when Murielle, like every weekday morning, left the residence with her dog to go to her work, at the Carrefour Express in the port of Gruissan, a few meters from her home. This 58-year-old lady comes across the gardener who insults her. Is it, generally speaking, the avalanche of dog droppings in the flowerbeds that is making this gardener spin? Still, this man, Jonathan, aged 30, throws himself at the woman and hits her.
The latter, trembling, runs to her store and locks the door. She calls her owner in tears, the co-owner's trustee, the gendarmerie, the municipal police, to no avail. No one is moving for this attack. The morning passes, Murielle, trembling, receives support from her usual customers. At half past twelve, she goes out, still with her dog and… comes face to face with Jonathan who comes to the store to buy a sandwich, this time accompanied by his partner, Elsa.
Second salvo
Insults fly. Elsa slaps Murielle and Jonathan attacks her again. Seeing the scene, Murielle's son, also in his thirties, rushes to help his mother. Jonathan then runs to his van, grabs a machete and throws himself at the son who, to protect himself, reflexively puts his arm in front of his face. The machete cuts cleanly into the forearm, creating a deep gash. A witness intervenes and grabs Jonathan. Murielle, panicked at the sight of her son bleeding, rushes into the store and calls the firefighters.
The victim's phone having fallen to the ground, Jonathan's partner rushes to retrieve it. Murielle's son, with his good arm, grabs the gardener's briefcase. The latter then enters the store, sees Murielle on the phone. Without a second thought, he hits the woman again. A young apprentice, who had not witnessed the scene of violence in front of the store and sees his boss being beaten, then throws himself at Jonathan. Both are rolling on the ground and the kid has a fractured knuckle and bruises.
Seven severed tendons
Murielle had a 4-day ITT, her son had emergency surgery at the hand clinic in Perpignan with 7 severed tendons, a 45-day ITT. It turns out that Jonathan was under the influence of cocaine and cannabis, and has 7 mentions on his record. Maître Hameli, for the civil parties, emphasizes that “without the intervention of the witness, and if the victim had not protected his face, the case would not be examined by this court but by another court”and pleads for referral on civil interests to assess the damages. “As the victim is the store manager, he can no longer work”
The prosecutor expresses his questions regarding these acts of violence: Jonathan's attitude after the events calls out: “He recognizes his actions, demonstrates honesty and discernment in his words, he is lucid about his faults” underlines Catherine Corvaisier. It’s confusing, it’s not the personality we’re used to seeing! He did not know how to manage his impulsiveness, he behaved disproportionately. It's not a settling of scores, he says that the machete was to scare, there was something that could have triggered this violence: this file leaves questions about the sincerity of the victims.”. It indicates that Jonathan, convicted in 2017 for violence, benefited from a probationary reprieve. The prosecutor requests 5 years in prison, 3 of which are accompanied by probationary suspension with continued detention and a long list of obligations and prohibitions.
18 months firm
In defense of Elsa, Jonathan's companion, Master Lisa Bourrel rushes into the breach opened by the floor. “My client got the phone back because she thought it was her partner’s” and damns the victims, claiming they lied. It's too much for Murielle who bursts into tears and leaves the room loudly, saying: “my son no longer has any arms…”before changing his mind and returning to his seat so as not to miss anything from the rest of the hearing.
Enter Master Victor Etiévant in defense of Jonathan: “My client recognizes his responsibility. At first for him, it was anecdotal since he returned to Carrefour Express. In his mind, the son who went out to protect his mother had a box cutter and was therefore armed.” The lawyer describes his client's journey spanning several years on the street, then “his self-sacrifice, his strength to create his green space business and to stick to it… Old demons have come to the surface…” While pointing out that his client “demonstrated his desire to treat his addiction.
The court sentenced Jonathan to 18 months with continued detention and two and a half years of suspended sentence and referred to civil interests to decide on the possible jurisdiction of the social center. Elsa is sentenced to 3 months suspended sentence with a ban on going to Carrefour Express. Jonathan also has an obligation to provide care and work to compensate the victims and is prohibited from staying in Gruissan.
