The Assize Court of Douai, in the North.

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G. Durand / 20 Minutes

  • Two cousins, who denied the facts, were sentenced to criminal imprisonment for attempted aggravated murder.

  • They were found guilty of leaving a father for dead after beating him up and setting his car on fire in 2015.

  • A third young man, who had confessed, received a five-year sentence, four of which were suspended, for having participated in the fire of the vehicle.

They denied the facts until the end.

Mohamed A. and Bilal B. were sentenced this Friday to 20 and 15 years' imprisonment for aggravated attempted murder by the North Assize Court in Douai.

The two cousins, aged 19 and 20 at the time of the facts, were found guilty of leaving for dead Fabien L., a father, who has remained disabled since the assault.

The victim had been severely beaten and his car set on fire on the night of May 27 to 28, 2015. "He was massacred, free of charge", concluded the Advocate General, Agnus.

A third man, Mohamed B., 21, received a five-year sentence, four of which were suspended.

It is on his confession that the investigators relied to reconstruct the facts.

He had been filmed by a CCTV camera at a gas station, filling a can with gasoline at 5 a.m. on the night of the incident.

Law of silence

Fabien L. had left his home a little earlier in Libercourt, Pas-de-Calais, looking for his dog in the neighborhood.

He had come across a group of young people and had been violently assaulted.

Unconscious, he had been transported in his car to a field, about ten kilometers away, and left for dead next to his burning vehicle.

In the background of this case emerges a tragic reality: the law of silence that can reign within these small gangs engaged in drug trafficking.

For the Advocate General, this trial reveals "the omerta reigning in this city", all the witnesses cited seeming to remain "silent for fear of reprisals".

Thus, the investigators took several months to put the pieces of the puzzle together, thanks to an anonymous testimony and letter, then to a meticulous work of cross-checking telephone tapping.

With its share of uncertainties, insofar as only Mohamed B. - whose sentence was the lowest - recognized his presence on the scene.

"He had no intention of taking part in this surge of violence," certified his lawyer, Quentin Lebas.

He submitted as many would have done in his place ”

"There is no proof, no certainty"

"The doubts are strewn about this file", had pleaded Me Julien Delarue, lawyer of Bilal B. The latter took out in extremis the victim of his car on fire, according to the account that in fact Mohamed B. At the time of the hearing, the Advocate General asked him to confirm this gesture.

Bilal B. maintained his version, still disputing his involvement.

"He did not seize the pole that was handed to him for two reasons: he is innocent or he is not able to take it", estimated his lawyer who had asked for the acquittal.

"There is no proof, no certainty," he said.

Acquittal also pleaded by Mohamed A.'s lawyer, Me Grégory Billet, who also tried to sow doubt in the minds of the jurors.

“Nothing emerges from DNA expertise, his cell phone does not stop anywhere.

Technically, there is nothing to say that he was on the scene that night ”.

A "bad look"

According to him, “elements are hidden”, evoking the hypothesis of a fourth man with regard to the various depositions.

"What Mohamed B. says is only a hypothesis," said Mr. Billet.

The jury decided otherwise.

The victim Fabien L., will not know more about the reasons which provoked such an outburst of violence, against a background of alcoholism.

The assault was allegedly caused by a "bad look", according to an anonymous letter sent to investigators.

"They destroyed my life, but above all, that of my wife and my children," he had scribbled from his wheelchair, in a note read by his lawyer, Loïc Bussy.

He hardly expected an answer before this trial, "he was only entitled to an ocean of lies", regretted his lawyer.

“It is a verdict of impunity, regrets, for his part, Me Damien Legrand, lawyer for the victim's family.

We will have to reflect on the meaning of punishment and justice more generally, if we do not want the French to prefer to take justice into their own hands, rather than trust the system.

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Lille

A father "massacred for free", the prosecution claims 20 and 15 years imprisonment against two accused

Lille

"Our life will never be the same", testifies the wife of a victim of assault

  • Handicap

  • Aggression

  • Murder

  • Assize court

  • Jail

  • Lille