On September 14, a fire broke out in a residential area of Welkenraedt, rue Bellevue, in a building comprising several warehouses, a garage workshop, and rental garages. The author receives 3 years in prison.
The fire quickly grew, the black smoke being clearly visible from the center of Welkenraedt, and spread to two neighboring houses, causing significant damage to both the buildings and the neighboring cars on which incandescent ashes fell.
We did not have to look long for the origin of the fire, since the mechanic operating the workshop informed the investigators of suspicions concerning a certain David (40 years old) with whom he had had a verbal argument the same day and who had threatened to set fire to the warehouse. A man who knew the place well, having worked there for six years. David is arrested and imprisoned.
He is still detained and appears before the criminal court where he is being prosecuted for arson in buildings that he must have presumed to be inhabited. If he admits to being the author of the facts, admitting to having thrown his cigarette butt through a window which he had previously broken, he did not think that his action would have a consequence of such magnitude, believing the warehouse empty. He admits that he was not in his normal state, having consumed alcohol and cocaine, which he has been using for around ten years. But he says prison made him understand his drift and want to take control of his life.
An assertion that the court took into account in its judgment, while considering that he knew very well that he was in a residential area and that the warehouse contained highly flammable products, and that he was enjoying a life of idleness and marginalization. He therefore grants him a probationary reprieve for the three years in prison he imposes on him. He will also have to pay 2,400 euros in legal costs, not including the significant damage to buildings and cars, which will be discussed at a later hearing.
