The atmosphere is gloomy, on this April afternoon, for Thomas's hearing. The civil party's bench, empty, sheds light on his relations with his family. Entering the glass box of the Meaux criminal court with a smile on his face, the defendant came out sheepish. And for good reason: It was a fit of anger for a futile reason that sent this 21-year-old man to prison.
Thomas had returned to live with his mother, in Mouroux, after several months without a fixed address. On April 3, following an Internet outage, the man his mother describes as a “despot at home” turned the house “upside down.” He first physically assaults his sister, pulling her by the hair and strangling her. Then, their mother intervenes between them and the young man threatens her in turn. In a fit of rage, he brandished a hunting knife which he pointed in the direction of the two women. He finally attacked the police officers who came to question him, in particular a peace officer.
“What you are doing here is judicial suicide!” »
Thomas had been on an electronic bracelet since last November for a traffic offense. After listing his criminal record, which includes nine sentences, mainly for drug use and insulting agents, the president of the court, Stéphane Léger, confronts him with his recidivism. “What you are doing here is judicial suicide!” », he calls out to her. “Your mother feeds you, houses you, bleaches you, and you threaten her life for a Wi-Fi cut!” », exclaims the president.
The defense lawyer, Me Ludovic Beaufils, pleads for the judges' leniency. He explains that Thomas had a “more than difficult” childhood. “My client was placed in a foster home when he was fifteen, after his father’s suicide,” he explains vehemently. These difficulties are accompanied, according to the lawyer, by deteriorated relations with his sister. “Does he really seem like the despot his mother describes him to be?” », he asks, pointing to his client, who appears calm behind the window of the box.
“I wanted to scare him”
In the case report, the mother testifies to several attacks in the past. Questioned about this, Thomas denies it outright. “I never laid a hand on her. That day she yelled at me and the noise made my head hurt. I wanted to scare her with the first thing I could get my hands on so that she would shut up,” he says of the knife. “You took it from a drawer,” then remarks Stéphane Léger, frowning. The accused, embarrassed, falls into deep silence.
After deliberation, Thomas is sentenced to eight months in prison, with a committal warrant. This is the first time that he will have to face prison life: the justice system had, until then, sought to spare him imprisonment for his previous misdeeds.