Plus a trace in front of the little house with the pointed roofs, the windows blooming with geraniums. Not a single sign of a tragedy, nor of the passage of the police or the emergency services. There is nothing to suggest that an outburst of violence broke out on the night of July 5 to 6 on this stretch of sidewalk on rue Denfert-Rochereau in Vieux-Condé, a small town located a handful of minutes by car from Valenciennes ( North).
And yet this Wednesday morning, the metallic gray van of a funeral director is parked in front of the small building with white plaster walls, probably there to organize the funeral of Philippe Mathot, 72 years old. This figure of local life succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, after being violently beaten less than a week before by a 17-year-old teenager who he simply asked to lower his voice.
A “charming” florist always ready to help others
A neighbor tells us how she heard a noise that night, well after midnight. Like most neighbors, the old lady saw nothing of the attack. She just listened through her shutters, without leaving her house. Then she guessed the flashing lights that lit up the street. Like the other residents of this residential area, whose pavilions and “mining houses” are mostly occupied by retirees and “single ladies”, she is shocked, even terrified, thinking of these punches and kicks that broke the jaw, cheekbone and skull of Philippe Mathot, left for dead on the sidewalk.
The neighborhood is unanimous. Everyone praises this neighbor who did not hesitate to help, gave his number to vulnerable people to be contacted in the event of a problem, took care of Christmas parcels for families in precarious situations in the town, lent a hand for a move… A time involved with the Communal Center for Social Action (CCAS), “he organized holidays for children in Périgord”, smiles sadly one of his “herds”. Everyone remembers the smiling gentleman who always waved his hand or a “hello” to those whose eyes he met.
Eight years ago, Philippe Mathot decided to return the keys to the Chalet, the flower shop he ran for decades with his wife. Only one requirement, he imposes on the new florist of the town: “He wanted all the employees to be taken over. »
“You were a person with deep values, whose main objective was to help the most fragile”, “the whole city is in pain”, “a beautiful person”, “an extraordinary man”, “a charming tradesman “. Endless praise darkens the pages of the guestbook opened in the town hall of Vieux-Condé since the tragedy. A photo of the deceased, the discreet smile, overcomes the desk where the inhabitants take turns to pay homage to Philippe Mathot, father of two big boys and grandfather.
“He would have been elected mayor hands down”
In front of the door of his social pavilion, at the entrance to the dead end facing the house of Philippe Mathot, Bernard, a 70-year-old former butcher, draws on his cigar while leaning on his cane. The two merchants from Vieux-Condé had known each other for thirty years, Count Bernard. “You couldn’t find a nicer guy, he was dedicated. He didn’t say one word louder than the other. “. For the ex-butcher, no doubt: “If Philippe had wanted to go into politics, he would have been elected mayor hands down. »
So the question comes up in the mouths of all those who say they are “revolted” by this tragedy. For what ? Why would a teenager attack Philippe Mathot, this “gentleman who had asked for nothing”, and who was “massacred for free”? “It is sure that he was not in the confrontation. It’s even surprising that he left his house that evening, ”says a neighbor. “He has done so much for young people. For him, it must have been inconceivable that we attack him like that, ”we still assure the local café.
On the night of July 5 to 6, Philippe Mathot opens a window shortly after 11 p.m.: can the three boys who hang around his house be less noisy? The nuisance seems to have continued since the septuagenarian decides to open the large wooden gate of his house to go out into the street. The evening is already well advanced, perhaps he was exasperated by the barking of his two big dogs, excited by the racket of young people? “An altercation breaks out”, deliver the latter in police custody, as reported this Wednesday evening by the public prosecutor of Valenciennes.
“A first blow is dealt to the face” and Philippe Mathot falls to the ground. The punches and kicks continue. He will be discovered, in a state of brain death, by a motorist, who will warn the firefighters at 00:20. His assailant and his acolytes fled. A few hours later, with the help of testimonies, the Valenciennes urban security police arrested an 18-year-old young man. He admits having attended the scene without intervening. He will identify the author of the blows, as well as a 14-year-old schoolboy, who also did not try to interrupt his sidekick. Nothing explains what were the intentions of the minors, from a neighboring town and unknown to the courts until then.
“He is in 5th grade, he has repeated,” sneer two schoolgirls who hang out in the streets of Vieux-Condé, a little deserted at the start of the school holidays. The schoolboy, whom one of his relatives describes to us as an “energetic” boy but “who was bothered by others at school”, seems to have changed a lot. One of the two girlfriends, who was in class with him, describes the youngest of the defendants as someone who “makes scum”, “hangs out with 3rd graders” and “looks for a fight”.
The 17-year-old was charged and remanded in custody for “attempted murder” (qualification retained before the victim dies). The other two are being prosecuted for “failure to prevent the commission of a crime and an offence” and “failure to assist a person in danger” within the framework of the judicial investigation which will have to determine the exact involvement of each in this affair, for which the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, warned: “This tragedy will not go unpunished. »
