An inmate, named Irwing S., took four medical staff and a prison guard hostage this Friday, January 3, 2025, at Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône). The man finally surrendered in the afternoon and was taken into custody. We take stock of his profile.
The scene lasted almost five hours, which must surely have seemed infinitely long for the five members of Arles prison staff, taken hostage by an inmate, before the latter surrendered to the authorities around 4 p.m. The madman’s name is Irwing S., and he had prepared his act well, since he “had hidden homemade weapons under a bandage before being admitted to the infirmary”according to our colleagues at Parisian.
The 37-year-old man is not French, but originally from Guyana, in South America. Irwing S., was sentenced to 18 years in prison for rape at gunpoint. He was therefore eligible for release in 2031. Before this conviction, “he had been imprisoned for acts of violence or aggravated theft with violence”according to the Tarascon public prosecutor.
No psychiatric profile
According to information from our colleagues, he was a detainee “very impulsive” et “violent”he would even have already had “problems of violence in detention” at Saint-Maur prison (Indre). “He was an individual who, through his profile and his past, had shown how dangerous he was”declared Pierre-Édouard Colliex, police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône.
However, according to the Tarascon public prosecutor, it is unfounded that the detainee presents a “psychiatric profile”, car “there is no psychosis”as was initially announced. “He reported medical follow-up”he adds.
Following his 48-hour police custody, the latter “will be referred to the prosecution” today in “early afternoon”.
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