Tetouan: a defendant bites a lawyer’s hand and swallows a check for 400,000 dirhams

An unusual incident, to say the least, was reported by the daily Al Akhbar in its edition of Monday January 27. In Tetouan, an individual went to the office of a lawyer from the local bar for a reconciliation procedure. However, events took an unexpected turn.

The latter was the subject of a complaint for issuing a bad check for 400,000 dirhams. During the meeting, in the presence of the complainant, a client of the lawyer, the accused suddenly jumped on the hand of the lawyer, who was holding the check in question. He bit her to make her let go, grabbed the check, put it in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. While the lawyer was writhing in pain, her attacker, in a state of hysteria, shouted that he did not have the amount written on the check and that he could not honor this debt. He was arrested by the police and taken into custody for the purposes of the investigation.

The lawyer’s client was also interviewed to collect his testimony and clarify the nature of his relationship with the suspect, as well as the reasons for their presence at the office for a reconciliation procedure.

Still according to the sources cited by Al Akhbarthe suspect admitted the facts, claiming that he was in a hysterical state and that he had lost all control of himself at the time of the events.

While awaiting the conclusions of the public prosecutor after examining the case, the Tetouan bar expressed its solidarity with the attacked lawyer. Members of the Order requested that the law be strictly enforced to prevent this type of behavior, which endangers the safety of lawyers in the exercise of their functions. They also pointed out that no similar incident had been recorded in the past, especially in the context of reconciliation proceedings, considered one of the simplest and ordinary processes in the practice of law.