Toulouse: two former HLM security officers sentenced for witness tampering, damage and theft
Former agents of the GITes (inter-district grouping of tranquility and safety) are given suspended prison sentences and no longer have the authorization to exercise a profession related to security or to carry a weapon.
Two ex-agents of GITeS (inter-district grouping of tranquility and safety) played part of the future of their professional careers at the Toulouse criminal court on Tuesday March 16. After their dismissal for serious misconduct, the two men had found a job, for one in an association, for the other as a security guard in a nuclear power plant. These individuals were needed for theft and tampering with witnesses. On February 16, during a first hearing, they had obtained a deadline to refine their defense.
The facts took place at the end of August 2021 in the Bonnefoy district of Toulouse while they were on patrol. The two security guards supposed to lower tensions in sensitive neighborhoods had settled accounts with a young scooter, had broken his machine and left with the keys. The less “ranked” of the two then tried to silence other colleagues who had witnessed the scene. Without success. This story had come to the ears of Rémi Vincent, general manager of the company. He had made a report to the public prosecutor.
One of the defendants released for the theft
The representative of the public prosecutor’s office asked the court that the two defendants be given a four-month suspended prison sentence, but above all that they be prohibited from exercising a profession related to security for two years and prohibited from possessing a hanging weapon. five years. Me Guillaume Léguevaques, the defender of the “highest ranking” endeavored to suppress to the judges that his client had not participated in the theft itself. On this point, the lawyer won his case.
The court revealed that his client had not stolen the keys to the victim’s scooter, he was found guilty of willful damage to the machine, sentenced to three months in prison, suspended, prohibited from exercising in security and to carry a weapon for the period requested by the prosecution. His sidekick receives a five-month suspended prison sentence and the same additional sentences as his sidekick.
The general management of GITeS takes note of the convictions of the two ex-employees and indicates that “the ban on exercising a trade related to security which was pronounced against them is a good thing for the professionalization and image of the trades of security.” and recalls that according to “the annual satisfaction surveys granted by an independent firm, more than 9 out of 10 tenants answered to have a positive judgment on the behavior of its agents.” The two defendants have ten days to appeal the decision.