the essential
Philippe Coopman, a 22-year-old young man, was beaten to death in Grande-Synthe in the North on April 16. Three minors aged 14 and 15 are indicted for murder. A look back at the damaged life journey of these alleged murderers.
“It’s a film of honor.” Coming out of the funeral of Philippe Coopman on Wednesday in Grande-Synthe in the North, a 60-year-old friend Nora was in shock. “When I look at your photos, I hear you laugh and my tears flow,” confided Mélanie, a cousin. “Why so much violence in this world? And especially why you?” asked Kevin, a cousin.
Philippe Coopan, who was a leader in the city’s leisure centers, wanted to become a physiotherapist. On April 16, he was ambushed. Beaten. Hit in the head multiple times. Left for dead.
Photo MaxPPP
Three teenagers aged 14 and 15 were arrested and charged with murder. They were placed in pre-trial detention. These two cousins and a friend claim to have arranged a night date for their victim by posing as an underage girl via a dating site. Theft could also be their motive, according to the Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office.
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Father at 15
Le Figaro retraced the life journey of the three teenagers. And the least we can say is that they lived a battered life. The first, who we will call Amine*, is 14 years old and lives with his 34-year-old mother of Portuguese origin. At the school where he is in 3rd grade, she confides that he did “a few things” like “pulling the fire alarms” but “never any violence”. The young boy smokes two to three joints a day and it is his mother who buys them for him. “At least that way he smokes at home and not elsewhere,” she explains. Eight months ago, the teenager became a father with a 15-year-old girl. They live in a maternal social assistance center in Dunkirk.
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Raised in a home
The second young person, who we will call John*, is 15 years old. He’s Amine’s cousin. Amine’s mother, who is therefore John’s aunt, took him in because the teenager’s father has been in prison “for almost 15 years” and his mother “does not take care of him”. So he lived in a home. “No one likes this kid,” says the aunt. She says: “When I picked up my nephew, I received a flurry of summons to the police station for past cases, each time for fights.”
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“A punch to educators”
It was precisely in a home that John met Ruben* who became his friend. The two teenagers share a passion for football, make TikTok videos about weapons or drugs and often call women whores and sluts. The mother wanted to get Ruben out of the home: “He only did stupid things. He ran away. He often got into fights. He sometimes punched or slapped the educators. He got fired every time” , she confides to Figaro. A former educator confides that at the age of 13, John “scared” the adults who supervised him. “I felt like it could go away at any moment.” The assassination of Philippe Coopman? “We remain surprised by his action. But for us it is a logical continuation. He is largely capable of it,” continues the former educator. The teenager should have been placed in a closed educational center. It wasn’t.
The evening of Philippe Coopman’s murder, John went to “buy cigarettes at the end of the street”. He came home at 2:50 in the morning.
