Moselle: six months in prison for assaulting a mayor

The criminal court of Thionville sentenced Monday, September 25 to six months imprisonment a woman prosecuted, in recidivism, for having assaulted Marie-Laure Herfeld, the mayor of Manom, a small town of Moselle on August 27.

The defendant was convicted of causing violence and outrage to a person holding public authority. She was also accused of trying to steal the mobile phone of the daughter of the elected and light violence on the son of Marie-Laure Herfeld, facts for which she was sentenced to a fine of 150 euros. The court also ordered a ban on contacting the mayor and appearing in Manom for three years.

'A solemn sanction'

The public prosecutor had asked for "a solemn sanction", i.e. eight months' imprisonment. The events took place on 27 August, during the patronal festival held in the schoolyard. The defendant, a mother in her forties, violently pushed Marie-Laure Herfeld who had come to tell her - after the vain attempts of several volunteers and a deputy - not to climb on the inflatable games reserved for children.

The mayor suffered a broken wrist and received a temporary work stoppage of 15 days. Her lawyer, Xavier Iochum, spoke of a "completely unleashed defendant", who "does not respect elected officials or the authority of the court since she does not come".

Maître Arnaud Blanc, counsel for the accused, said that his client, who "moved to Orleans", "did not know the quality of mayor of the victim at the time of the first scene of altercation in the schoolyard" and that "the mayor had been able to push the lady first, without violence, towards the exit".

Recidivism

A second altercation then took place in front of the mayor's house, as she left to go to the hospital accompanied by her adult children. Wanting to snatch the mobile phone from the hands of Marie-Laure Herfeld's daughter who had filmed her car, the defendant had dropped it, before hitting the son with shoes.

Already convicted six times, including twice for contempt and rebellion against persons in charge of public service mission, the defendant was in a state of legal recidivism because of a previous conviction pronounced in March 2022 in Orleans. His lawyer will appeal the decision.