At the bar of the criminal court on Thursday, the 43-year-old gendarme is contrite. The soldier was not appearing as a victim but as a perpetrator of three offences. Violation of professional secrecy, fraudulent transmission of data, facts that he acknowledges, and forgery in an administrative document, which he disputes. The judges found him guilty of these offences and gave him a four-month suspended prison sentence. Prior to these events, the gendarme had always been well rated by his superiors, who have since sanctioned him.
"To be of service"
The 2016-year-old did not release any sensitive information. But between 2022 and <> in Lardy (Essonne), where he worked, he consulted the files of vehicle registrations, driving licences, tickets and criminal records on about twenty occasions. "It wasn't to cause harm, but to do a favor for loved ones," he said. Such as checking the points balance on a licence, or checking whether or not a vehicle for sale was pledged. "It's something that happens quite frequently in my profession," he says. This information can be obtained by the person by going to the gendarmerie. There, it saved them a trip. »
"You also gave information about a vehicle to an insurer," the prosecutor reminded him. We can see what he can do with it, it has consequences. Access to this information cannot be trivialized. Regarding the forgery, the court reproached him for having regularized a check by simply receiving the supporting documents by email, when the person should have brought them to the gendarmerie. "It's done regularly," the gendarme again assured.
Denounced by his ex
If the soldier finds himself in the dock today, it is because of a denunciation sent to the public prosecutor by his former partner. At the time of their relationship, the latter was already married to "a high-ranking officer of the gendarmerie", according to the defendant's lawyer.
One day, the young woman's husband was involved in a motorcycle accident while riding with his mistress. An investigation was launched. The defendant decided to consult the minutes and sent his partner a copy of part of the teacher's interview. "Her husband was in the hospital and the insurance company was blocking whether he was drinking. The interview was focused on that, not on the nature of their relationship, the soldier said. In any event, she was aware of this affair before the accident. As a result of this case, the defendant and the deceived woman separated and the latter decided to denounce him.
"This case is a trampling," said defence lawyer Antoine Lebon. He has been taken into custody, there is the disciplinary sanction, the gaze of his colleagues. It's illegal, but it's common. Where is the harm? There is no civil party. It's a good element, what's the point of putting its head under water? " he asked, while the prosecutor, in addition to a six-month suspended prison sentence, had asked for a six-month ban on practising, which the court ultimately did not follow.