Toulouse: drunk and under narcotics, the driver sentenced to one year in prison
On the evening of January 10, 44-year-old Sofiane multiplied traffic violations, backed up violently against police cars before rebelling when arrested. This Algerian in an irregular situation was sentenced this Wednesday, February 16 to one year in prison and 10 years of banishment from the territory.
“I was afraid… Afraid that they would put me on the plane.” Sofiane, a sturdy guy, doesn’t say much to explain the 9 kilometers of pursuit in the heart of Toulouse, from Arnaud-Bernard to the Grand-Rond, from Place Dupuy to Prairie des Filtes, from Avenue de Muret to the bridge Coubertin where the driver ended up in the background. It was on the evening of Monday, January 10. “At the start, a simple check and everything changes,” notes, distraught, the prosecutor. No insurance, an Algerian driver’s license but not approved and an afternoon plus an evening washed down with three quarters of a bottle of whiskey, twenty beers, multiple “firecrackers” of cannabis and rails of cocaine…
“Almost a flying bomb”, notes Carole Mauduit, the president of the Toulouse criminal court after having patiently taken up the dozen traffic offenses: misdirection, red lights, unsuitable speed. And the violence “with a weapon by destination, his car”, specifies the prosecutor. Twice the police launched at his coattails were struck. “On the impact, our car backed up several tens of meters” confides in the report one of the police officers who found themselves in an attacked car.
“The police aimed at you with their service weapon. Do you remember?” asks the president. “No”, answers via an interpreter this father who remembers, all the same, the “explosion” of the rear window, hit by a flash ball shot. This 44-year-old man arrived in France in August 2020, illegally and without papers. “If he does not speak today, beyond his alcoholic excesses, his consumption of narcotics which do not help his memory, it is also because he is ashamed, pleads Me Agathe David for his defense Shame for his wife and two children who remained in Algeria, shame for his aunt and cousin who hosted him, helped him on his arrival in Toulouse and who are present today at the hearing.”
The police, five joined as civil parties, did not come to testify, blocked by the visit of President Macron. Their lawyer, Me Camille Lacoste, carries their voices, their retroactive fears. “And as if all that weren’t enough, he even rebelled during his arrest,” laments the lawyer who is claiming damages. The prosecutor, offensive in the face of behavior “which could have led to tragedy, for the drivers, pedestrians you have met, or for the police”, surprises by requiring only 6 months of detention.
The defense, in a loud voice, is struggling, chasing the wounded or drama “which did not take place”, insists Me Agathe David who deplores “the error of a carefree man present for more than a year on the territory “complaint of the moderation for the damages claimed by the police officers” without proof “. Sofiane is sentenced to 12 months in prison with continued detention, 10 years ban on French territory, 5 years ban on carrying a weapon. The police obtained 1500 € and an expertise for the one who suffers from the back, 800 € of moral damage for his four colleagues and 700 of article 475-1, the legal costs.