A 15-year-old minor involved in the fire of a business which had affected the Pissevin police station, a district of Nîmes plagued by drug trafficking, was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. .
Six people aged 15 to 28, including three minors, known for drug trafficking, were taken into police custody at the beginning of November, suspected of having participated in the night of August 20 to 21 in the fire which ravaged a commercial premises adjoining the brand new police station, not yet inaugurated, in the Pissevin district, one of the poorest in France.
Only a 15-year-old minor and a 28-year-old man were ultimately presented to the prosecution. First to appear, the teenager was tried on Monday by the children's court, Nîmes prosecutor Cécile Gensac said in a press release.
“Tried for willful damage by means dangerous to people, driving without a license and driving without insurance, he was sentenced to three years in prison, including two years suspended, and continued in a closed educational center,” said Cécile Gensac.
The sentence, she added, is “accompanied by several obligations of work, care, compensation for the victims, a ban on contact with the second accused, a ban on appearing in Nîmes during three years and a ban on carrying a weapon for five years.
The 28-year-old man, who had requested time to prepare his defense, will be tried on January 10 by the Nîmes criminal court. In the meantime, he was remanded in custody. He faces a sentence of ten years in prison.
