Four months of suspended prison sentence were required against the mayor of Saint-Just-en-Chevalet (Loire), judged Tuesday, May 3 before the criminal court of Roanne for "
slanderous denunciation
" after a complaint was filed for an imaginary attack.
Judgment was reserved for May 17.
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The representative of the Roanne public prosecutor's office also requested a fine of 500 euros and a six-month suspension of the driving license against Pascal Poncet, aged 59.
Also prosecuted for "
driving while clearly drunk
", the LREM mayor of this town in the north-west of the Loire had refused alcohol screening by the gendarmes the day after the events last December.
His lawyer, Me Alain Jakubowicz, pleaded at trial for the release of his client, citing a "
botched investigation
".
According to him, the elected official was "
attacked and injured by people who are angry with him about building permits
".
“Fleeing by car was the only solution”
“
It is true that he was coming out of a drunken evening, but fleeing by car was the only solution for him to escape his attackers
,” said the council.
At the hearing, witnesses from the scene, at the end of the evening of December 4, said for their part that the elected official had injured himself by falling to the ground several times, including once while trying to take a shot. fist to one of his constituents who came to help him with another young man.
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The latter had subsequently tried in vain to dissuade the elected official from using his car to return to his home because of his obvious state of intoxication.
They had been accused the next day by the defendant of having beaten him, resulting in their placement in police custody.
Me Laurence Chantelot, the lawyer for the two young men, who filed a civil action, asked against the elected official "
1500 euros and 2000 euros in damages for the damage they suffered
".