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A big stupidity": the prosecutor's office requested Thursday six and twelve months in prison against a couple who had launched a false alarm attack for fear of missing a train, sowing chaos in Lille on July 19.
In the middle of holiday departures, the couple had sent an SMS to alert of the presence of a "terrorist in the Paris-Lille train". The message triggered the mobilization of the Raid and the GIGN, the suspension of rail traffic, and the evacuation of the two Lille stations for four hours.
"We acted without thinking about the consequences"
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We are not terrorists, not monsters, we acted without thinking about the consequences, "said on the verge of tears the defendant, a 30-year-old delivery driver, already convicted several times, and who appeared detained. The prosecutor requested 18 months in prison, including 12 months in prison against him, and 12 months in prison, including six months against his wife, a 27-year-old nursing assistant. "I want to apologize for this big stupidity: they only thought of us," she told the court.
Having recently settled in the Bordeaux region, they were travelling to Pas-de-Calais, their region of origin, to exercise their right to visit their four-year-old son, who had been in care. After a train delay, they feared missing the TGV Paris Lille at 8:45 a.m. and the following connections. "We both looked on the internet, we had the same idea to send a message on a terrorist," said the young woman, acknowledging having dictated the SMS sent from her husband's phone. They then turned it off so as not to be located. "We didn't know the consequences," she said.
The prosecutor's office denounced a "selfishness pushed to its paroxysm", stressing that "a thousand passengers were impacted by their stupidity", while even with the next train "they would have arrived on time". The couple had been arrested as soon as they arrived at Lille station. The SNCF has asked for more than 20,000 euros in damages, a provisional figure pending the total compensation that can be requested by passengers. The firefighters, who had mobilized 17 people, and the Hauts-de-France Region, which finances the TER, claimed respectively 2700 and 2500 euros in damages. The prosecutor's office also lifted the suspension of two sentences previously handed down to the man for a total of 18 months in prison.