The scene was almost apocalyptic. On the morning of October 23, 2024, residents of the Pontreau district woke up among burned cars, in a parking lot on rue Guy-Guilloteau. Two Renault Twingos, a Citroën C3, a Peugeot 308, a Citroën C4 and a Hyundai, six cars all burned by propagation after an arson fire on a seventh vehicle the day before.
Because only one car was targeted, a Fiat Punto belonging to a local resident, doused in gasoline and burned by a 21-year-old young man from La Rochelle. Arrested and placed in police custody on December 2, it was four days later that he found himself facing the Niort criminal court, under the regime of immediate appearance, to explain his action.
And the least we can say is that the reason given is futile. “I wanted to explain myself to the sister of my ex-partner with whom we had just broken up, because she and her mother were preventing me from speaking to her. She didn't want to, so I burned her mother's car, but I didn't think it would burn. » Facing him, the president of the court Cédric Bernardet sighs. “So you set fire to a vehicle, with the consequences that we know about, all for a simple love affair? »
Nearly €24,000 in damages to be paid
The person concerned had not consumed alcohol or drugs, “but I had just come out of psychiatry”he told the judge. To the prosecutor, he explains that he was not given the antidepressants he normally had to take, which, according to him, could have justified his behavior that evening. For the parquet floor, it's clear, “he deliberately damaged all the vehicles, he knew the danger of the fire spreading.”
Not deeming him sufficiently stable, the prosecutor requested eighteen months in prison with a probationary suspension of nine months and demanded his detention. A sentence which will be confirmed by the court.
As for the owners of the burned cars, several were present at the hearing to testify and claim damages. The bill is steep for the young man: he will have to compensate a total of nearly €24,000 for the moral and material damage suffered by the victims.
