They used to show up at the homes of elderly people disguised as police officers. Armed with a fake police business card, armband or cap, the three men took advantage of the fragility of their interlocutors to break into their home and steal cash, jewelry and sometimes even weapons. Often by trickery, but sometimes also by force. Wednesday evening, the criminal court of Nantes sentenced Wednesday night to five years in prison three fake police officers.
The three defendants, a 55-year-old father, his 31-year-old son and a third 34-year-old man, married to the niece of the first, were convicted of aggravated robbery and transporting a weapon. These thefts were committed between July and October 2022 in various communes of Loire-Atlantique such as La Baule, Pornichet, Vertou, Saint-Herblain but also Maine-et-Loire.
Lawyer 'extremely shocked'
Throughout the hearing, the three accused, from the Traveller community and in pre-trial detention since the end of November 2022, strongly denied the facts. Their lawyers pointed out the "many inconsistencies" of the investigation and pleaded for the acquittal for most of the alleged facts. "We wanted to make a major file of an investigation that concerns only a small number of facts," said Gwendoline Tenier, lawyer for the father and son, saying she was "extremely shocked by the severity of the requisitions." The three accused had 19, 9 and 20 convictions respectively on their criminal records.
One of the victims, an 83-year-old woman, attended the hearing. In August 2022, fake police officers ripped off a diamond ring from her finger, doused her with cologne and stole a gold necklace. "It was a shock but I have a lot of sadness for the people in this box, some of whom can't read or write. Why so much difference between their lives and mine? ».
- Pays de la Loire
- Nantes
- Theft
- Policeman
- Justice
- Travellers