In Millau, these works are far too expensive: an octogenarian victim of abuse of weakness

La mauvaise rencontre a eu lieu l’été dernier. Illustration – Daniel Bruel

Le tribunal de Rodez a condamné un jeune homme de 28 ans pour avoir dressé des factures de rénovation trop élevées auprès d'un octogénaire, à Millau.

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Sixty thousand euros for renovation work on a 55 m² apartment in the heart of Millau ?The bill is steep and the Rodez court considered that it even constituted abuse of weakness… Last August, when he moved in with his family on the large transit area for travelers in Brocuéjouls in Millau, a young man born in 1996 approached another man aged 84 in the street. A widower, the latter lives alone and is particularly vulnerable, according to a medical certificate. He wants to repaint his property and carry out other work.

Absent at his trial

The craftsman met in the street then drew up two invoices: they totaled €60,000. The owner paid a little over €30,000 before the bank alerted a niece. She filed a complaint immediately. The investigators called on a former craftsman for an expert appraisal: he estimated the work at around €10,000… “The disproportion is staggering!”, supported the prosecutor, Mathilde Jayais, while requesting a year in prison with an ankle bracelet for the defendant. He was absent from the court. “He's doing some work in Mulhouse at the moment”, said his counsel… the Toulouse tenor, Guy Debuisson.

“The expert craftsman calculates with €40 of labor and €40 of goods for a square meter. At that price, I'll hire him right away to do some work!”, he argued. The court reduced the sentence to six months suspended for his client and a fine of €6,000. The victim has since died… His heirs could initiate new civil interest proceedings.

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