Two minors were sentenced on Wednesday May 4 to three-year prison sentences, partly suspended, for having participated in the fire at a school and a college in Béziers (Hérault), the evening of 'Halloween 2019,' said the prosecution.
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In accordance with the requisitions and following a trial held behind closed doors, the juvenile court sentenced the first, aged 15 at the time of the events and who had already served eight months in pre-trial detention, to three years of imprisonment, including one year accompanied by a probationary suspension for two years, specified in a press release the prosecutor of Béziers, Raphaël Balland.
He was prosecuted for "
destruction by fire
" and for having thrown projectiles in the direction of the police.
20 to 30 individuals with concealed faces
The second minor, who was 16 years old and has already served a year in pre-trial detention, was also sentenced to three years in prison, including 18 months suspended.
He was accused of having participated in the fires, but not in the violence against the police.
A third minor, prosecuted for throwing projectiles, received a six-month suspended sentence.
The fire at the Tamaris school, in the La Devèze district, had completely destroyed two classrooms and heavily damaged 12 others.
The sports hall of the Katia and Maurice Krafft college, a hundred meters away, had also been set on fire that evening.
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A firefighter had been seriously injured in the back while fighting the flames and, when they arrived at the scene, the police officers of the anti-crime brigade (Bac) had been attacked by "
20 to 30 individuals with concealed faces, who had thrown stones, firecrackers and various projectiles
”, according to the prosecution.
A 20-year-old man sentenced at the end of January to five years in prison, two of which were suspended, for having participated in the fires "did
not appeal this decision
" and is currently serving his sentence, said Raphaël Balland.
