According to a report from our colleagues at France Bleu Mayenne, a 43-year-old man was sentenced last Monday to one year’s imprisonment without parole for threatening three firefighters with a rifle in Javron-les-Chapelles (Mayenne) during the night between Saturday and Sunday. He even threatened to kill the two gendarmes who came to arrest him on Sunday.
Emergency services were called to his home to help a drunk man who had fallen down the stairs. The defendant was also drunk, and he confronted the emergency services with a weapon.
Three firefighters threatened
At the hearing, the three firefighters are seated behind their attacker, who turns round several times to ask them for forgiveness, even though he claims not to remember anything. "I can't even explain it to you; I don't even remember seeing them". That evening, the man drank heavily at home with two brothers – 10 or 12 glasses of alcohol. One of his guests fell down the stairs, so they called the emergency services.
"It’s a difficult experience to go through."
On their arrival, the defendant pointed a rifle at the firefighters, but they went ahead and attended to the injured man anyway. "It’s a difficult experience to go through when you’re providing assistance", one of the firefighters testified at the hearing. Another explained during his testimony that he had found it difficult to fall asleep after that call-out.
"The rifle doesn't even work", the defendant argues. But "You were the only one who knew that", retorts the public prosecutor. "To attack firefighters is to attack society, _That is unacceptable_", she adds.
Not to mention that the following day, the man even threatened to kill – this time verbally – the two police officers who had come to arrest him. He still had 2.44 grams of alcohol in his blood. "I'm sorry"", he says, his head bowed.
A duty of care
The man has therefore been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, plus a further four months, and the revocation of a suspended sentence relating to a previous case. He is currently in prison.
He will also have to pay 2,300 euros in damages to the fire brigade and the police. He has also been ordered to undergo treatment for his alcohol addiction.