The man who held six people hostage Thursday in a banking agency in Le Havre before surrendering was referred this Saturday to the prosecution, which requested his indictment and his detention, announced the public prosecutor, François Gosselin.
The prosecution requested his indictment "for attempted extortion with weapon, forcible confinement and attempt, willful violence and possession of explosive substances, as well as his placement in pre-trial detention," the prosecutor said in a statement.
Known for a criminal and psychiatric history
Aged 34 and known for a criminal and psychiatric history, the man surrendered late Thursday evening, after patient negotiations with the Raid's men, who arrived shortly after 7 p.m. "He is referred today (Saturday) to the public prosecutor's office at the end of his police custody for the opening of a judicial investigation," said the prosecutor. "Originally from Le Havre and living there, he provides confused explanations as to his motivations, citing family difficulties or the fate of Palestinian children," said François Gosselin.
The hostage taker, who was entrenched Thursday at 4:45 p.m. in an agency of the Bred in the center of Le Havre, was equipped with a handgun "which turns out to be an alarm pistol", indicated the prosecutor. "The homemade device he presented as being a bomb consisted of two bottles of methylated spirits assembled with fireworks firecrackers," he added. "None of the six people held hostage was subjected to physical violence," said the prosecutor, adding that they had been taken care of by an association to help victims.
Sentenced four times in 10 years
According to François Gosselin, the respondent is "known to the courts for having been convicted four times between 2006 and 2016, in particular for theft, threats, violence, carrying a weapon and forcible confinement". He was released "at the end of his last incarceration in May 2018" and "his state of health was considered compatible with the continuation of the procedure", added François Gosselin.
In 2013, the same man, carrying a handgun and a tear gas canister, had taken four people hostage for more than two hours in a CIC bank in Paris before surrendering to the police. He then demanded social housing for himself and his son.
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