On the night of November 8, 2023, the police intervened in a building on rue Lucien Lainé in Beauvais where a fire broke out. They are forced to use force to get Alexandre Degardin out of his smoke-filled home. The latter, a 47-year-old man heavily intoxicated, refuses to follow them, “let me die here !” he tells them.
The fires were increasing
This night of November 8, however, marked relief for the other tenants of the building because since the arrival of Alexandre Degardin in this residence, fires had increased. Between March and November, seven fires broke out in the cellar of the building, in the trash room, in the common areas, doormats in front of the apartment doors… An oil tank almost empty and a black glove smelling like a fire accelerant were found at Alexandre Degardin's house and we see it on video surveillance at the place where a fire broke out three minutes later.
Rejected because of his homosexuality
But the man denies being at the origin of these fires, with the exception of that of November 8. Sometimes he accuses a former companion, sometimes a neighbor… He declares himself rejected by the neighborhood because of his homosexuality…
He was placed in pre-trial detention and appeared this Tuesday, December 3 before the criminal court.
For a year, his position has not changed: he recognizes the fire of November 8, 2023 which triggered the intervention of the police but for the six other fire outbreaks, “I have nothing to do with it at all“, he declares.
“I freaked out”
The chair of the hearing points out two constant facts: on the one hand, “there were no lights before your arrival, there have been none since your detention” ; and, on the other hand, fires very often occurred at the beginning of the month, when the man had received his benefits and was drinking excessively. As proof, on November 8, 2023, his blood alcohol level stood at 3.30 grams of alcohol in his blood. Alexandre Degardin admits that he had drunk a lot that day, two bottles of whiskey and five of rosé, and that he wanted to end his life. “Do you understand that people could have died?” she asks the defendant. “Yes, I lost my temper, I blame myself!“, he replies before specifying again that he only recognizes this one fire.
The prosecutor shows up “very worried” by the positioning of the accused: “He potentially endangered the lives of tenants and he still poses as a victim today“. He fears a repeat offense and requires six years in prison with continued detention.
Five years in prison
The defense lawyer, Me Marie Dufoyer, will try to acquit herself for the six other fires by mentioning “coincidences not enough to condemn him“. But above all, she talks about the neighbors and one of them in particular, homophobic, who carried out the investigation, installed a surveillance camera… “The neighbors wanted him to leave, they were the ones who started the rumor of an arsonist in the building“, she says. “And my client wanted to put an end to all of this!” Even if she obtained acquittal on three of the seven offenses, her client returned to prison for five years accompanied by five years of socio-judicial monitoring with obligation of care.
