With alcohol I go off the rails.
This 30-year-old man, placed under reinforced curatorship since he came of age, was judged this Friday, October 11, 2024, in immediate deferred appearance, at the Lisieux court (Calvados), for having, on September 24, 2024, set fire to a tobacconist’s vehicle from Hauteville to Lisieux. Around 10:30 p.m., he was formally recognized by a witness (who took a photo of him) milling around a vehicle parked on rue Alphonse-Allais.
“Yes, I burned the car”
The car catches fire and the author tries to fight the witness by chasing him to the foot of a building. He breaks the door but ends up returning home where he refuses to come out when the police arrive. He was arrested the next day, at his home, shortly after 9 a.m. and admitted the facts. He explains, which he reiterates in the box, that the tobacconist had spoken badly to his partner and that, passing in front of her vehicle that evening, he had wanted revenge.
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The president questions him about his particularly dangerous action: it’s under the influence of alcohol
he said “Beer and whiskey turned me on. Yes, I burned the car! » We learned at the hearing that he had arsonist tendencies and had set fire to the trash room in his building and another outside. I was having fun with a lighter. I like it”,
he said. He has already been sentenced in Livarot for another incendiary act and is well known in his building for various nuisances. “ I lose my temper when I drink. I got five fines for being noisy.”
the defendant justifies himself. The president reminds him that if he repeats the offense, he faces twenty years in prison.
He answers: feet first! I’m very bad in prison
He was placed in pre-trial detention on September 27, 2024 while awaiting a psychiatric assessment. This describes it immature, with behavioral instability, psychological poverty with frustration and intolerance and psychopathological dysfunction”,
but without abolition of his discernment.
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The owner of the vehicle explains the difficulties he has experienced since the loss of his vehicle. His lawyer is claiming €3,000 in moral damages and a referral to civil interests for the material damage.
Nine months in prison
The prosecutor considers the expertise very revealing of the personality of the accused and is concerned about the risks of recurrence requiring more restrictive judicial follow-up and treatment in addiction and psychiatry in addition to immediate incarceration. For the defense lawyer: There is no abolition but great psychological suffering for my client. He is a deficient subject who has no reference points, hence the reinforced guardianship. Frustrations overwhelm him. He responds by acting out his inability to manage emotions
He speaks visible call for help
and ensures: He’s not cut out for prison.
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The court sentenced his client to eighteen months in prison, twelve of which were suspended for two years with the obligation to provide psychological care and for his addiction. His probationary suspension was revoked for three months, so that he will serve nine months in prison. He is being held in detention and will owe a provision of €1,000 to the owner of the burned vehicle. The total damage will be discussed at the hearing on civil interests on May 16, 2025. He will have to reimburse the social landlord’s expense (€689.81).
