Night of October 9 to 10, 2022 in Bayonne. A man staggers on the public highway. Seriously injured, he explains to the Bayonne police that he was attacked and that it was his partner Amandine* who scared the attacker away. She then allegedly threw the knife in a trash can. The truth is quite different: it was indeed Amandine who stabbed her partner 13 times when he came to see her at her home. Four stab wounds left serious injuries to the stomach, arm and buttocks. The victim is hospitalized. Amandine is immediately arrested, questioned and placed in pre-trial detention during the investigation. She will remain there for a year and a half before being released under judicial supervision. This Tuesday, September 17, the case is being tried by the Bayonne judicial court. The victim did not come to defend his case in courtleaving his lawyer, Bertrand Bouvet, to plead his case. He believes that “We had come close to a much more serious tragedy.” Amandine, for her part, acknowledged the facts and explained her actions. Strong words.
“I had to prostitute myself for 30 euros”
The night of the tragedy was chaotic. Alcohol and drugs were circulating in the Bayonne apartment where dealers came to demand their dues. “I had to prostitute myself for 30 euros that night to pay them” explains the defendant, who describes a situation of dependence and submission to a man with whom she has had a relationship for three months. “I was on crack and I couldn’t take it anymore. I sincerely regret what happened, I should have run and left” insists Amandine, who now lives in Hendaye. Way to turn the page on a battered lifeHer lawyer, Sophie Coupy, describes a journey like Cosette.“My client was adopted at the age of four, she has been an alcoholic for twenty-five years, took cocaine every day and her four children have all been placed in care.”.
“Manipulator Guru”
If the defense cannot provide tangible proof of the allegations made against the companion, as prosecutor Jean-Claude Belot points out, Amandine’s tormented journey weighs in the balance when it comes to judging her. The court, presided over by Judge Florence Bouvier, decides to follow the prosecution’s requisitions. Three years in prison, two of which were suspended. “This decision is legitimate, because I committed a fault, but I reacted like this because he made me enter prostitution like a manipulative guru” concludes Amandine.
Amandine* The first name has been changed
