On the dock: an ex-English soldier, a former paparazzi and henchmen recruited in a sensitive neighborhood of Nice. Since Monday, nine people have been tried on appeal at the Bouches-du-Rhône assizes for the incredible kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac, a wealthy 76-year-old hotelier, in Nice in 2016. Thirteen at first instance in Nice, they were only nine, Monday afternoon in Aix-en-Provence, at the opening of a trial scheduled until February 23. Four in the dock and the other five appearing free.
The case of the alleged mastermind of this file, Giuseppe Serena, 68, sentenced on January 27, 2021 to eighteen years in prison, was disjointed due to heart problems making his appearance impossible. The Alpes-Maritimes Assize Court had declared this Italian restaurateur guilty of complicity in the kidnapping of Jacqueline Veyrac, as well as a first failed attempt, in 2013, with the aim of obtaining a ransom.
Betrayed by DNA traces
Seven of his co-defendants, sentenced to between seventeen months and fifteen years in prison, were on the other hand present on Monday, as well as two of the five acquitted men, retried following an appeal from the prosecution. These nine defendants will have to explain themselves on the kidnapping in broad daylight of Jacqueline Veyrac, forcibly embarked in the trunk of a van, on October 24, 2016, under the incredulous gaze of a postwoman.
Among them, “Tintin”, a 51-year-old ex-paparazzi, who had placed two beacons under the victim’s 4X4 to monitor his schedule. But also an ex-English soldier who became homeless, Philip Dutton, 53, in charge of organizing the kidnapping, as well as the recruiters and kidnappers, three young people from the Moulins district of Nice. DNA traces of the various protagonists had been found, especially in the car.
Prisoner of the van, parked on the heights of the city, the septuagenarian had managed to get rid of her bonds and escape, 48 hours later, thanks to a passerby. During her confinement, Jacqueline Veyrac had refused to eat, the president of the court reported Monday at the hearing, when reading the facts.
“Maybe” pushed by his “frustrated ego”
A discreet woman with a “non-ostentatious” lifestyle, Jacqueline Veyrac, whose family is among the richest in France, owns with her children the Grand Hotel on the Croisette in Cannes, but also La Réserve, a gourmet restaurant located on the seafront. sea in Nice. From 2007 to 2009 she had entrusted the management to Giuseppe Serena, but the business had quickly collapsed in debt. In a half-word, he confessed to the facts during the first trial, explaining that he “maybe” was pushed by his “frustrated ego”.
Jacqueline Veyrac and her son, on a trip to Dubai, were absent on Monday. The date of their hearing has not been set, Gérard Veyrac being positive for covid and his mother in contact. On the day of the abduction, the son had received a call from a man with an “English accent” on his mother’s cell phone demanding the payment of a ransom.
Key man of the trial, in the absence of Giuseppe Serena, Philip Dutton is also prosecuted for a first abortive attempt to kidnap the rich lady, three years earlier. Jacqueline Veyrac had escaped this abduction thanks to “the strong resistance” opposed to her captors and the arrival of a van. The man, who admitted to being the operational leader of the 2016 kidnapping and named Giuseppe Serena as the instigator, was sentenced at first instance to fourteen years in prison.