the essential
The departmental criminal court will judge until this evening the two accused who hit former master corporal Emmanuel Cueff, who died in October 2021 in Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne). The debates will determine which blow led to the soldier’s death.
Three years after the tragic death of former master corporal Emmanuel Cueff, which occurred outside the Le Nautic bar in October 2021 in Montaubanthe trial of the two men accused of having struck him leading to his death opened Monday, December 9, before the departmental criminal court of Tarn-et-Garonne.
The tension is palpable in a packed room, where Sony Ugal and Jimmy Medou, aged 24, appear for the first time in front of their judges. The accused, from the community of travelers settled in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, struggle to express themselves about this fateful evening.
Their personal journey, exposed by the personality investigators, reveals striking similarities: chaotic schooling, incomplete literacy and the significant role of their maternal figure in their daily lives. “Jimmy Medou seems incapable of detaching himself from his mother, who acts as a protective shield,” underlines a psychologist, referring to an obstacle to his maturity.
However, she notes his positive and diligent commitment to the Stade Beaumontois. A passion for ovals and this club that he has shared since his adolescence with his cousin.
At Sony Ugal, the trajectory differs only on the judicial level: incarcerated since January 2022, he has already served almost three years of pre-trial detention, while Jimmy Medou, recently married, appears free under judicial supervision.
But behind these personalities where words are rare, there is the difficulty of saying what happened during that evening. If Sony ended up admitting that he did punch the victim twice, Jimmy maintains that he did not deliver a violent kick to Emmanuel Cueff’s chest when he was on the ground.
Things become more complex when Séverine Cueff, the widow, describes her husband’s last moments. “When we left the bar, a man, Sony Ugal, pushed me on the shoulder,” says the former soldier of the 17th RGP. My husband then said to him: “What are you doing to my wife? » Those were his last words before Sony Ugal hit him, she continues.
— Did you then see Jimmy Medou kick your husband? », questions President Hélène Ratinaud, obtaining a “yes”.
The judge continues with the question at the center of the debates: “When he delivered his blow, was your husband on the ground or standing?
— He was standing. »
A testimony called into question by Jimmy Medou’s lawyer, who maintains that the kick, according to the forensic doctor’s expertise, would not have been at the origin of the “postural knockout” which led to Emmanuel’s death Cueff, and his fall head first against the sidewalk.
“I maintain,” Séverine Cueff stands up to him.
Rushing into the breach, Mr. Guy Debuisson makes him repeat: “Is it really Medou who did the kicking? »
— Yes, certifies S. Cueff.
“Is it after this blow that your husband fell?” insists the lawyer.
“It happened very quickly,” she said.
Are you certain that he fell after this blow?
— Oui. »
This exchange relaunches the debates, especially when a key witness, visibly terrified by “death threats”, prefers to testify from Toulouse by videoconference. This goes against all expectations in the direction of the widow’s testimony at the bar.
Me Sandrine Roca, lawyer for the civil parties, then summarizes the key issue of the trial during the suspension of the hearing: “Was Emmanuel Cueff standing or on the ground when Jimmy Medou delivered his kick? In which case, it will be necessary for the forensic expert who affirms that the second punch which would have been fatal to the victim to explain to us how this is possible. » Verdict expected Tuesday evening.
