The gang of "highway pirates" will go to jail. Five men were sentenced this Wednesday by the criminal court of Nîmes (Gard) to terms of 3 to 9 years in prison, for committing violent thefts targeting motorists traveling in luxury cars, on the A9 and A7 motorways , in the summer of 2017. They were also banned from appearing in the Gard for 5 years.
The prosecutor had requested 3 to 15 years' imprisonment against the five men, aged 26 to 29. He had denounced "the silence and the disputing of the facts" of the defendants, originating from the Mas de Mingue, in Nîmes. "In this neighborhood, everyone fears the other in relation to his family," said the prosecutor, during a trial organized with exceptional security measures in view of the profile of accused, repeat offenders.
Defendant escaped from prison
Among the two most heavily convicted defendants is a man who escaped on January 28, 2019, outside the Tarascon courthouse (Bouches-du-Rhône) thanks to a commando of two armed and hooded men. He had been arrested after six months on the run, on an isolated farm in the Gard department.
"I do not get up here for the escapee from Tarascon," said his lawyer, Florent de Saint-Julien, stressing that this case was still under investigation in Aix-en-Provence. The lawyer qualified the one who is considered to be the leader of these attacks as "a sharp skinned" caught in a "gear" and aware of having "ruined his life".
"Tetanized" victims
The defendants are "the fruit of what is going wrong in society," added the lawyer, estimating that there were "absent" in this file, which demonstrated the existence of "teams of drawers". "I was never given a chance. I regret ”, assured the“ escaped from Tarascon ”, before the judges retired to deliberate.
The five men were tried for several robberies with violence targeting, always with the same operating mode and within the same geographical perimeter, the occupants of luxury cars, to the detriment of at least 24 victims, individuals or companies. None of the victims, described by a lawyer for the civil parties as "paralyzed and terrorized", did not wish to come to testify during the three days of trial.
Some victims had been attacked with fire extinguishers or iron bars after being struck at high speed on the motorway or surprised on rest areas of the A9 and A7 motorways. Hooded and armed men then threatened them to offload all their valuables and sometimes their vehicle.
Justice
Nîmes: Gang tried for robbing owners of luxury vehicles on the highway
Justice
Béziers: Two men arrested on the A75 with 6.4 kg of cannabis sentenced to 42 months in prison
- Languedoc-Roussillon
- Robbery
- Flight
- Nimes
- Highway
- Justice