Arrival at the courthouse of Jacqueline Veyrac with, on her right, her son Gerard Veyrac, on Friday January 8, 2021 -

Lionel Urman / SIPA

  • Guiseppe Serena, main accused of the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac, in 2016 in Nice, finally acknowledged Monday "a strong and total responsibility" while denying being the instigator of the kidnapping.

  • The Advocate General demanded thirty years in prison against him.

  • The magistrate also asked for twenty-five years in prison against a British homeless man and sentences of 18 and 20 years for the three henchmen of the kidnapping.

This Monday morning, just before the requisitions, Guiseppe Serena asked to speak.

After three weeks of trial and after having always denied his involvement, the main accused of the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac finally recognized "a strong and total responsibility", while denying being the instigator.

A version that did not convince the Advocate General.

She called for 30 years in prison against the 67-year-old Italian.

"In my opinion, he remained the instigator whatever he said," said Annie Brunet-Fuster, who also demanded twenty-five years in prison against a British homeless man, Philip Dutton, who had admitted from the start his participation and sentences of 18 and 20 years for the three henchmen of the kidnapping.

The wealthy hotelier had been sequestered for forty-eight hours in the trunk of a utility vehicle at the end of 2016.

"I participated in all these things"

Before the jurors on Monday, Guiseppe Serena, invited by the president of the Assize Court to clarify his statements, indicated that he had "not asked to carry out kidnappings", but that he had "participated in all these things ".

“I attended discussions.

I knew almost everything that was happening from A to Z ”, also assured the ruined restaurant owner, who had been in business with the victim, of which he managed one of the restaurants.

One of his former companions had come to the bar to explain how Guiseppe Serena had been "affected by his self-esteem" after having felt he had been "fired" from this establishment in Nice.

And he wanted revenge, according to the prosecution.

“It was not hatred and not thirst for money either, he defended himself.

Yes, maybe my frustrated ego, and the fact that the work I had done was no longer worth anything.

"

"Does he plead guilty?"

"

"The time has come to say 'forgive us' to Ms. Veyrac and her family for what they have been made to suffer," he also added.

In French tinged with Italian, he therefore acknowledges having played a role in the kidnapping but not having imagined it, referring this to two other defendants: Philip Dutton, present at the trial and Enrico Fontanella, whose case was disjointed due to health problems.

A half-hearted confession which also made the civil parties tick.

"Does he plead guilty?"

“Asked Me Luc Febbraro, lawyer for Jacqueline Veyrac.

In the box, Giuseppe Serena nodded "yes" with his head.

Justice

One of the main defendants at the trial of the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac, a former British soldier, claims to have been "manipulated"

Justice

The accused, a "fired" restaurateur, was "affected by his self-esteem", tells a witness at the trial of the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac

  • Assize Court

  • Nice

  • Removal

  • Justice

  • Trial

  • Abduction