One year in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Mourad, a 37-year-old homeless man, has said it over and over again: no, he is not responsible for the terrible fire which ravaged the building at 4, rue Myrha, in the Goutte-d'Or district. (18th), in Paris.
Eight people, including two children aged 8 and 14, perished in the flames on September 2, 2015. Or defenestrated themselves.
Mourad had been arrested in possession of lighters and candles, but it was Thibaud G., a tenant installed for a few months on the 2nd floor of the building, apparently "good in all respects", who committed the worst.
Anxious, depressed, haunted by the voices of "imaginary friends", he assures, and fascinated by the fire, the man, now 24 years old, took his place on Monday in the box of the accused of the Assize Court of Paris.
VIDEO. Fire in the rue Myrha in 2015: "I saw bodies fall"
For weeks, Thibaud G., ex-employee of the SNCF, had testified to his suffering, among the survivors of the terrible fire.
Quick to express himself in the media, he complained of having only benefited from a short psychological follow-up and an apartment in the social park: "Nothing else, although I was fired after this nightmare. , because I couldn't hold it any longer, ”he moped.
Omnipresent in Myrha Street, the accused went so far as to organize a rally in tribute to the victims, on the anniversary of the tragedy.
And it is this attitude which ended up putting the chip in the ear of the investigators of the criminal brigade.
Finally, in 2016, the man was confused and then indicted for "voluntary degradation by fire resulting in death" and imprisoned.
The same day, Mourad left, free, the prison of Fresnes (Val-de-Marne) where he had been imprisoned for over a year.
If the miscarriage of justice was avoided, the man had to wait until 2019 to benefit from a dismissal.
A stroller sprayed with flammable liquid
Curled up in the accused's box in an improbable T-shirt bearing the effigy of Fluttershy, a character from the children's series “My Little Pony”, his hair tied in a ponytail, Thibaud G. recognizes everything: yes, he did alert the first time the firefighters around 2:30 am, this September 2, after setting fire to his own mailbox.
The emergency services had not noticed an outbreak of fire, but had found a charred paper.
Two hours later, he had dialed 18 again after setting a stroller sprayed with flammable liquid on fire on the ground floor.
This time, the fire is raging, flames invade the stairwell and reach the apartments.
In the building, transformed into a blaze, people, in panic, scream at the windows.
Two of them deflate to escape the flames.
Six, finally, will be discovered charred in their apartment: among the eight victims, four members of the same family of Senegalese origin, including two children.
"I have several personalities who are part of me"
"I recognize my gesture, but we did not think of killing people", assures Thibaud G. This "we" designates them, himself and his "voices".
Imaginary friends, including "Superbia", "the most violent", he says, that he evokes to explain his passage to the act.
“I have anxiety attacks, panic attacks, frailty, and several personalities who are part of me.
But I am responsible for what they do.
"
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The president is dubious: “At the beginning of the instruction, you spoke about yourself in the first person, she objects, it is only after that you evoked these other personalities.
But the experts are unanimous: they do not recognize you as a split personality, at least in the psychiatric sense.
"
59 calls with the fire brigade
And we must admit that the past of Thibaud G. does not plead in his favor.
The inhabitants of 4, rue Myrha affirm it: never had the emergency services intervened so often in the building since the accused moved in, in March 2015. Between June 24 of that same year and the day of the tragedy, the man exchanged no less than 59 calls with the firefighters.
His computer also revealed a lot of research on fires.
Mourad, he is still awaiting his compensation for having spent a year behind bars.
His lawyer, Me Paul Fortin, plans to engage the responsibility of the State for "major dysfunction".
The trial continues this Tuesday and until December 11.
