They weren’t very talkative. At the helm of the Rennes Criminal Court, three young people in their twenties were tried for having caused a fire to start in Saint-Aubin d’Aubigné (Ille-et-Vilaine) on July 21. A minor incident that only took away a few hundred square meters of grass in a field and apple trees in an orchard owned by the municipality. But in a burning context where thousands of hectares have already burned in Gironde and in the Monts d’Arrée, this voluntary start of fire raises questions. If France hoped to obtain explanations from the mouths of arsonists, it will have to come back. Because in courtroom number 105, we didn’t learn much.
The three kids are sitting in a field overlooking a pond in Saint-Aubin-d’Aubigné. It’s past 9 p.m. and the three young men are smoking a few cigarettes, a joint too, while watching the sunset. Some swing their butts in the dry grass. “I saw smoke, I quickly extinguished it with my hand”, assures the youngest and the least talkative of the three. The “real” fire would have started when one of the three kids was playing with his lighter. “It was like a stress reliever. I lit a few twigs and saw that it took. I let it burn a bit before stomping. When I left, there was no trace of smoke or sparks, ”says the young man, who specifies that he extinguished the start of the fire with tonic which he carried in his bag to mix it with gin.
Faced with the evasive answers of the three defendants, the president is annoyed. “I wasn’t there, it’s up to you to tell me”. The respondents are not very talkative and even less precise in their declarations. However, witnesses claim to have seen them light two fires in two different places in this field, even believing they heard laughter before seeing the three young people flee. “I only saw the existence of the fire when I left and met a witness who showed me the smoke,” replied the man who was playing with his lighter. “But witnesses saw you. And why didn’t you call the fire department? “. One had no more battery, the other no more credit. “It was a stupid act, especially given the weather conditions,” admits one of them. All will be picked up on the spot by the gendarmes.
“It could have been dramatic”
In the context of extreme drought that France is going through, this “stupid act” raises questions. Especially since one of them will film the scene with his phone. “The apple trees that burned are seven meters from a wood. Fortunately there was no wind, it could have been dramatic, ”explains the mayor of Saint-Aubin, who filed a civil action. “There is a limited stake. We are not in the same situation as in Gironde or in the Monts d’Arrée”, recalls the judge, who invites the defendants “to let go in their statements”. They will not really do it and will give “laborious” explanations as described by the prosecutor. The latter relies on the statements of witnesses to request entry into sentencing. “When we set fire to twigs, we are on an arson, regardless of the consequences”, assures the magistrate, who overwhelms the young man who “played” with his lighter. “I can only think of the context. It’s Thursday July 21, we’ve just had a heat wave and we can’t find anything better to do than throw cigarette butts in a field already burned by the sun.
The three kids all have a small record, especially for drug use and driving without a license. The youngest, aged 20, has already spent a few months in prison for driving without a license and under narcotics. All of them had a turbulent childhood due to a complicated parental situation. Two are friends. The third is an acquaintance they met by chance that evening. The court upheld the “coaction” of the three defendants and sentenced the young man with the lighter to a five-month suspended prison sentence and 70 hours of community service. As for the other two defendants, they are sentenced to the same 70 hours of TIG to be performed within eighteen months.