Toulouse: alcoholic, a marginal is unleashed on a couple of septuagenarians
A 74-year-old lady dared to tell marginalized people that they had given “go somewhere else”. In response, she received a hail of blows from a 31-year-old woman. In front of the criminal court, police reunion but agitated.
“She punched me hard in the face. Then another. My husband was assaulted by a man. Really, I thought: they’re going to kill us!” Before the judges of the criminal court, no fear in this 74-year-old Toulouse woman. “I got kicked too. Like my husband who got the upper hand because the man was drunk. Madness for a mere thought. I wanted them to go drink and smoke somewhere else… The windows of my accommodation overlooks the street. It was hellish”
“Do you recognize her, Madame?” Asks Carole Mauduit, the president.
“Of course it’s her. She was drunk, probably on drugs. As usual. She was hanging out all the time in the Empalot district.”
Already 20 convictions
In the box Sarah, 31, takes her softest voice: “I’m sorry for what happened to you but it’s not me. I was not Toulouse. And then in Empalot, a woman looks like me. Besides, this lady mentioned a tattoo. I don’t have this tattoo.”
The victim whose husband, too tired, has not moved, moves his head, not at all convinced.
With already 20 convictions, including several for violence, Sarah struggles to persuade the judges but persists. “I had left Toulouse, to get out of it. I was in Ariège. I was taking care of my son.”
Only she was arrested in July Grande rue Saint-Michel, very alcoholic. And not very cooperative with the constabulary. “I came for my legal follow-up,” she justifies, offensively. “They didn’t see you. You just called,” says the president. Sarah launches into a new tirade, under the worried gaze of her defender, Me Momasso Momasso. “I ran into a friend. We drank, one or two drinks. Maybe more…” A night of sobering up and an additional step in court. “And at the end of August, you were arrested again. Still drunk and still in Toulouse despite the ban”, annoys the president.
Disfigured victims
On his bench, the victim takes his neighbor to witness. His lawyer claims an expertise and a financial provision. “This woman could not have her dentures repaired for lack of money. Her husband lost his glasses in the altercation”. Sarah, silent, looks at her loved ones, exasperated.
The prosecutor denounces “unacceptable violence with disfigured victims” and says she is disappointed: “I hope that this woman would agree to admit her mistakes. We are very far from it.” And elements of the file in support, she asserts her indictment. She requires 3 years in prison, including one year suspended. Me Jocelyn Momasso Momasso resists, denounces “a lacunary investigation”. “Indexes do not prove and neither do testimonies”. He also wants care for Sarah: “Prison is not suitable”.
The court follows the requisitions: 3 years including one year suspended, prohibition to approach the victims, and to stay in Toulouse. Sarah sits down, angry. The victim finds a semblance of a smile.