“It’s clear, we were drunk. We had drunk at least ten cans of strong beer and there was whiskey.” In fact, after being arrested, the man and woman suspected of having caused a fire in Vannes on the night of June 5, were not immediately able to be heard by the police. At the police station, the 50-year-old woman said it was her drinking buddy who started the fire; he, 37, refused to speak.
It was an electric dump van that was set on fire that night, at 2 a.m. Parked next to the washhouses, its destruction by fire also caused damage to a staircase leading to the building. The city of Vannes estimated its damage at €26,000 and is seeking compensation from the court. €5,000 for the blackened staircase, railing and floor. €19,000 for the destroyed vehicle.
“I don’t think it’s me”
Videos from cameras positioned near the ramparts allowed investigators to recognize the silhouette of a man and a woman, but not to see who started the fire. In another image, captured later while the duo was at Place du Général-de-Gaulle, we see the man holding a bottle in his hand. For the deputy prosecutor, it could be an accelerant. We found one during the search of the squat in which the woman lives, route de Nantes. The man lives in an apartment allocated to him by Amisep in the Kercado district. Which of the two started the fire? The woman says it’s not her. The man does not recognize it, but is less assertive. “I don’t know how to tell you. I don’t think it’s me.”
Relaxations requested
The deputy prosecutor, Perrine Giraudeau, thinks so. “Once again, the alcohol excuse that erases memories.” For the magistrate, there was an attack “on a listed monument, a heritage, the wash houses, which belong to all the people of Vannes”. If it is indeed the accused who started the fire, the SDF must be considered co-author of the fire “because she did nothing to prevent it, nor to alert the emergency services”. The prosecution requested three years in prison for the defendant and two years suspended for the woman. The defendant’s lawyer pleaded for her client to be released “because there is doubt in this case”. At the request of the thirty-year-old, the second lawyer also pleaded for acquittal, citing a lack of proof. The court found that both defendants were equally responsible. He sentenced Vincent Auvray and Hadija Essalhi to fifteen months in prison. Continued detention and a committal warrant were issued by the magistrates.
