On the evening of October 11, in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, a building caught fire due to a dispute surrounding the sale of a PlayStation. This is what we remember from the hearing on Monday, November 25, before the Libourne court. At the helm, two young people aged 19 and 20. One is under guardianship, the other under curatorship. Vulnerable, impulsive personalities, with personality disorders and educational deficiencies, shed light on personality investigations.
A fragility which did not prevent them from attacking an equally fragile person. That evening, a money dispute led them to drum at 200, rue nationale. They partially break down the door before “their friend” – the victim – comes to open it, for fear of being reprimanded by his neighbors. The trio rushes into the apartment. With a lighter, the defendants begin to set objects on fire. Then, the youngest grabs an aerosol and, with a flame, transforms it into a blowtorch. The start of a fire which will devastate at least five homes. First estimate of the restoration: 540,000 euros.
“A punitive expedition”
“It’s serious but there were no injuries or victims,” said one of the two defendants. A little sentence that stung the floor: “It is not because there are no dead or injured that there are no victims. These are facts with catastrophic consequences for those who lived there,” thunders deputy prosecutor Élodie Blier, who evokes “a punitive expedition” and “a premeditated gesture”.
Mes Natacha Beauvilain and Amélie Rudler, for the defense, believe on the contrary that the charge of prevention of deliberate destruction is not characterized. “They admit to having done anything but deny having wanted to set the fire. Nothing proves their intention to destroy someone's property”; going so far as to plead for release.
This will not be the case, the court, which nevertheless found an alteration of discernment, sentenced them both to two years in prison, including eighteen months with a probationary suspension of three years.
