A 55-year-old mother, prosecuted for having caused a fire in the Gard at the end of July, when the risk of fire was maximum, was sentenced to two years in prison, one of which was suspended on probation on Friday August 19 in Nîmes.
The defendant, placed under judicial supervision after her arrest in early August, admitted to the hearing that she had set fire "
with a lighter
", on the night of July 29 to 30, in front of her neighbors' house in Gajan.
They had grumbled because of the noise of a party organized at her house.
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The fire had quickly spread along the houses, even in the gardens of two houses whose owners, parents of young children, brought civil action, alongside the Gard firefighters.
The fire had burned 2,000 square meters of brushwood.
"
Honestly, I had a little drink, I almost never drink.
I think that's it
, ”replied the mother of the family to President Jérôme Reynes.
Single mother of two girls aged 26 and 14 and grandmother of a 10-year-old grandson, the defendant, whose record is blank, had been welcoming dependent or disabled elderly people to her home for 25 years.
But for several months tensions had arisen with his neighbors because of the noise caused by parties organized at the defendant's house.
“I want to fix my stupidity”
"
It is not alcohol that can justify your behavior
," said the public prosecutor, Philip Ughetto, who had requested two years in prison with a warrant.
"
This drama was played out for little
", insisted the magistrate: "
That evening, this honorable person did not support a criticism and had a behavior close to pyromania.
It has put several families with young children in great danger
.
“
I want to fix my stupidity
”, “
I am ashamed of what I did
”, repeated the defendant, sentenced to pay more than 17,000 euros to the civil parties.
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“
It is not a stupidity
”, resumed the judge.
“
Here we are talking about an offense and the penalty incurred is 10 years
”, he hammered before recalling the context: “
We have fires all over France, and in particular in the Gard.
The firefighters are monopolized for multiple occasions and you, you decide to set fire?
"
It was not premeditated
," defended the defendant.
In a press release, the Gard firefighters reacted to this judgment by emphasizing that "
this type of action (...) exposes firefighters to significant risks and mobilizes resources whose commitment could be
'
vital
'
elsewhere
".
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