From the box of the accused, it is hardly if they dare to look at the victim. Valérian, 31, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, including 5 months firm, this Thursday, by the criminal court of Versailles (Yvelines). His accomplices, Elio, 18, and Alexy, 24, were respectively sentenced to 4 months in prison suspended on probation, and 9 months in prison suspended.
Convicted of "destruction of the property of others", they will also have to compensate Ludivine, 28, with the sum of 1,500 euros. This woman, whose car they burned, they know her well... She is Valerian's sister-in-law.
"We acted on a whim," explains the thirty-year-old at the bar, his face tired. What has been done is unacceptable. In front of the judge, he confessed without difficulty to having set fire to the vehicle of his brother's girlfriend, on the night of July 23 to 24.
Pursued and insulted in hospital...
The scene took place at her home in Limay. Around 18:30 p.m., Ludivine calls the police. She says she was beaten by her boyfriend and then by her sister-in-law when she tried to flee. To set the record straight and calm the situation, the police decided to arrest the two defendants and place them in custody. Ludivine was taken to the hospital in Mantes-la-Jolie to examine her injuries.
In front of the police, Valerian explains that he was shocked by the arrest of two members of his fraterie, starting with his sister, Shirley who, according to him, would have done "absolutely nothing". Angry and drunk, he then went to the hospital with Shirley's boyfriend Elio and Alexy, a friend, to demand accountability. Insults rained down in the corridors, before the three men were turned away by the security guards of the hospital.
In revenge, the trio decided to go to the young woman's home around 1:30 a.m. Once there, they attack his vehicle, a Peugeot 307. Identified on the videos of surveillance cameras, their phone records confirming their presence at home, they were arrested on July 25. And quickly confess.
"These men, she (the victim) knows them well"
Valerian and Elio explain that they broke the windows of the car, before emptying a can of gasoline, and setting it on fire with a lighter. Alexy says he did not take part in the destruction, but admits to having monitored the arrival of the police.
At the helm, Ludivine remains discreet. Curled up in her hooded vest, she shed a few tears. She intervened only once, at the time of the description of the facts, to specify that her child seat and stroller were in the car. "She doesn't understand what happened," her lawyer said. She knows these men well, she has received them many times at home. »
When the judgment was announced, the young woman left the courtroom without a word. This is not the first time she has come to court for these types of cases. A month and a half ago, her ex-companion had received an 18-month suspended prison sentence for serious domestic violence and sexual assault at the young woman's home. It was... of Valerian's cousin.