South of Toulouse: sentenced for robbing a tobacco shop to join his girlfriend in Corsica
The 23-year-old young man who had held up a tobacco shop with a weapon last August in Vernet, a town south of Toulouse was tried this Thursday, September 23 by the Toulouse Criminal Court.
His judgment had been returned on the grounds of a request for a psychiatric expertise. On August 13, a 23-year-old man was arrested in the commune of Vernet, near Toulouse, after an armed robbery.
In the afternoon, this individual hitherto unknown by justice put on a balaclava before breaking into a tobacco shop. Armed with a pistol, the robber claimed the money from the cash register, nearly 900 €. Once the banknotes in his pocket, the thief quickly fled. But when he starts to escape, he realizes that the store manager was following him to recover his recipe. Helped by a motorist and by the staff of the municipal police, the boss of the tobacco shop finally overpowered his attacker. In addition to the 900 €, the police got their hands on the handgun. Three days after being apprehended, the 23-year-old first-time offender was heard by the Toulouse Criminal Court, during an immediate comparison. But his trial was postponed at the request of his lawyer Me Ravyn Issa to carry out a psychiatric expertise.
This Thursday, September 23, this visibly impressed and feverish young man in the box was tried by the Toulouse Criminal Court for this armed robbery. When asked about the possession of this weapon, the latter explains having acquired it two or three years ago to shoot at a target at home. “I’m sorry, I regret”, he slips in the wake of these explanations. Why did you choose this tobacconist precisely? “I was a regular since I went there two or three times a week to buy cigarettes”, explains the defendant.
“He does not procrastinate, does not tremble”
In court, he also clarified that this famous August 13, he waited until there were no more customers to enter. He explains that the gun was not loaded. According to the conclusions of the expert psychiatrist, the person concerned is not the subject of any particular psychiatric disorder but “he has an immature, unstable personality, having difficulty in accepting and overcoming life’s problems”. “On reading the file, what struck me is the coolness of the young man of 23, unknown to justice. At the time of the facts, he does not procrastinate, does not tremble”, wishes to emphasize the public prosecutor before requesting three years in prison, including 18 months with a probationary suspension.
His lawyer, Me Ravyn Issa relies on the results of the expertise to defend his client. “He acted out of impulse, without thinking. He had no plan. He is still a bit silly but who does not have the profile to hold up in prison ”.
At the end of the deliberation, this man with no criminal record was sentenced to two years in prison, one of which was suspended for 2 years. He was accompanied to detention to serve the 12 months in prison.