This Wednesday afternoon, the man and woman suspected of being behind Wednesday’s attack alert were to be tried in immediate appearance before the Lille Criminal Court. At the request of the defendants and certain civil parties, the hearing was postponed, but if the merits of the case were not addressed, we know more about the personalities and motivations of these individuals. Spoiler alert: don’t expect philosophical reasoning.
To briefly recall the facts, on Wednesday morning, the SNCF received two text messages on an emergency number to be used only in the event of a threat of an attack. The first claiming that a terrorist was on board a TGV Paris-Lille, the second to specify the number of the train, forgotten in the first message. The telephone line was easily traced by the police and they were quickly able to identify Yohann B, its owner. Geolocated in the TGV which followed the one mentioned in the alert, the suspect was arrested by the Raid, as well as his companion, Prisca C. Placed in police custody for “disclosure of false information of disaster likely to cause the intervention “, the couple was brought, this Friday morning, before the prosecution for an immediate appearance in stride.
A couple already well known to justice
Prisca C. is 27 years old and she was born in Cambrai, in the North. Quite tall, of strong build, red hair carelessly tied up with a pink scrunchie, her face flushed from the sobs she tries to contain as she enters the box. If she seems impressed to find herself on the wrong side of the bar, this is not her first judicial experience. Prisca C. already has three convictions to her credit, for burglary, fraud, travel without a ticket and death threats against a person in charge of a public service mission.
His companion, Yohann B., is from Lens, in Pas-de-Calais. Thirty years old, small and plump, eyes close together, low forehead and scarlet complexion behind a short beard. Him, his record is “very heavy” underlines the public ministry. “Six convictions in all for death threats or violence against spouses,” adds the president. His last conviction dates back to May 2022, for violence against his current partner with whom he has had a relationship for seven years. In addition to a suspended prison sentence, he had received a ban on contacting the latter. A prohibition that neither of them respected.
“Even if you took the next train, you would have been on time”
Despite the court decision, Prisca C. who left the North in November 2022 to join Yohann B. in Gironde and resume a life together in the apartment he occupies in a home for young workers. A move involving her leaving behind the child she had with him and a second, born from another diaper. This escapade of the couple in Lille, it was precisely to visit their son, placed in a home. “You called so as not to miss your correspondence and thus arrive on time for the appointment”, declares the president. “Except that even if you took the next train, you would have been on time,” she says, relying on the calculations of the investigators. “It’s stupidity this case,” concedes the defendant’s lawyer. “He knows he has a problem with impulsivity”, tries the advice of Yohann B. “But there is an evolution”, he slips.
For the representatives of the defense, their clients did not measure the consequences of their act. “It was to go see their foster child,” pleads Prisca C’s lawyer. “A child placed in the North who did not prevent them from moving to Gironde,” scolds the president. With tears in their eyes, the defendants accuse the blow, leaning on the low wall of the box as on the zinc of a bistro. The case will be adjourned “by right” to August 31.
He and his record will await that date in detention. She will have to comply with a judicial review. Both face two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. For Yohann B., this sentence could be increased with the revocation of the probationary suspension of his last conviction.