In the box of the defendants, three men. Jérémy, 26 years old, Laurent, 31 years old and Nicolas, 38 years old. Everyone recognizes the facts but has a hard time explaining them.
A night of nightmare
This Saturday, January 9, 2021, the three of them are having a drink at Nicolas in Vinezac. They have already drunk a lot during the day and they continue in the evening. Jérémy remembers that he has a dispute with Fabien, an inhabitant of Prunet next to Joyeuse. He worked at home “in black” and he owes him 1000 to 2000 €. Jérémy doesn’t really know anymore. We will never know if this is correct or if it is invented to justify the expedition.
There were three of us together. We were completely drunk. Jeremy.
The three men decide to go to Fabien’s, they say, to put pressure on him. They knock on the door. It is past midnight. Fabien comes to open them in boxer shorts and a T-shirt. They hit him immediately: the blows are raining down. They drag him outside in the snow, no more dressed. Fabien gives his credit card code: he loads it into a car and leaves for an ATM. Fabien faints, he is again beaten and left for dead on a path near his house. He manages in the morning to drag himself to the house of his neighbor who takes him in.
Alcohol excuses everything with you. Maître Pitras, lawyer for Fabien.
Fabien’s lawyer gets annoyed: “Alcohol excuses everything. It makes it possible to minimize the facts and no longer remember”. It’s true that Nicolas explains that he broke two or three things in the house: in fact the house is devastated. So much so that Fabien quickly decided to sell it, terrified that they could come back. He left the area and could not even attend this hearing.
The defense lawyers try to explain this behavior, in any case to recall the sometimes serious problems of the defendants: this one suffers from a serious illness, another lost his father a year ago, yet another leaves of prison and is completely lost. So much for the context.
The court tries to understand why for example, Nicolas, 38 years old father of 4 children, a stable job follows Jérémy in this pseudo punitive expedition. But the court collects only the beginnings. They themselves do not seem to understand their actions.
The court sentences Jeremy to 5 years in prison, including one year suspended. Nicolas receives three years in prison and two years for Laurent.