Construction machinery siphoned off: “I didn't even have the cap of the jerrycan” explains the defendant already imprisoned for robbery

Une audience en visio-conférence au tribunal correctionnel d'Alès Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Déjà incarcéré pour braquage, il écope d’une nouvelle peine.

Currently incarcerated for seven years in Tarascon for robberies, Frédéric, 36, was sentenced to three additional months of detention this Friday during the correctional hearing at the Alès courthouse. He was found guilty of stealing fuel from the Jouvert establishments in Laval-Pradel.

In November 2022, during a patrol, the gendarmes of La Grand-Combe observed an individual near construction machinery from the Jouvert company. The man was trying to hide a jerrycan. Spontaneously, the man goes to meet the soldiers and says that he was walking his dog and that while passing he spotted a pipe to siphon the tanks.

Confused by a video

“I saw a group of young people who were dealing around the construction equipment. I just wanted to get the fuel can”, says the defendant from the prison where he appears by video conference.
The day before these events, a local resident handed over a video shot with his phone in which we can see an individual who looks like the defendant busying himself in the area of ​​the station, around the machines.

“This is the street where I live. This is where I walk my dog. I came across the siphoning. I saw three young people leaving on a scooter. I just wanted to get the can. I didn't even have the cap! I was supposed to go to the assizes for five robberies the following week, I wasn't going to do a siphoning before…”

An element that troubles his counsel, Julie Peladan: “And how he allegedly transported the fuel with a Jerrycan that doesn't close ? It's a thin case. The prosecution only has a small bundle of evidence. When the police arrive, he doesn't run away. He lives nearby and just wanted to get the cans. When he saw the kids running away, he realized he could “scratch” something. There's not enough evidence to convict. He must be released.”

The court decided otherwise.

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