A fishing trip that turns to tragedy. Three young men were heavily sentenced this Friday by the Assize Court of the North, in Douai. They appeared with two young women for a robbery and a murder committed in May 2019, near the canal in Douai. Their victim, Thomas D., had been beaten to death, finished off with a breeze block, against a background of alcoholism.
At the time, it was Thomas D.’s sister who reported the disappearance of her 38-year-old brother to the police. It will take a few days for the investigators to find the body of the victim in a disused parking lot of the former Leroy-Merlin store.
Use of CCTV
The face of the deceased bears the marks of numerous blows synonymous with a violent attack. Two couples and a man, aged between 23 and 30, were soon arrested and indicted in this case, accused of murder, theft or failure to assist a person in danger.
It is the exploitation of the video surveillance of a store which allows the investigators to identify a first couple of suspects. The latter accompanied the victim, visibly drunk, in the purchase of a packet of crisps, a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of whiskey, the day of his disappearance. Thomas D. had just sympathized with the couple.
A fishing trip that degenerates
The sequel is a tragic story of a fishing trip that degenerates against a backdrop of drunkenness. A word that does not pass, “inappropriate words towards the girls”, according to one defendant, the start of a fight and “everything went downhill”, testifies another defendant. The surge of violence leads to death. A sum of cash between 220 and 350 euros was also stolen from the body.
The trial, which began on June 21, made it possible to highlight the responsibilities of each. In a very tense hearing, the main defendant, designated by his two acolytes as the one who finished the victim, Jimmy O. vainly tried to underestimate his responsibility. He was sentenced to twenty-three years’ imprisonment. Jessy L. was sentenced to eighteen years. For Jordan D., the only one who had no criminal record, the sentence is less severe: twelve years in prison. “He did not hesitate to acknowledge his responsibility when he was certainly the least involved”, underlines Damien Legrand, his lawyer. As for the two women, they come out with four years off. The jury was more lenient than the attorney general who had asked for heavier sentences.