Terville. Sellers accuse the virulent customer of racist slurs

His calm at the courthouse bar contrasts with the anger that seized him at the after-sales service counter of the Ma sign in Terville on December 18, 2021. That day, he came to collect a lamp. His wife had already come to the shop for the first time, but was missing a document to collect the order. Her husband comes back a few hours later. The employee asks him for an identity document. And the customer derails.

The salesman and his manager denounce racist slurs. They accuse these terms: “Thieves, we French, we have given you work, you are the thieves, we have made you come to France to work, we have given you work, it is thanks to us that you work in France. Took the client to the Thionville Criminal Court on Tuesday.

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“I’m from West India, I’m French”

The 51-year-old denies it. He recognizes his anger. He also came to apologize later, in tears. His behavior is said to be due to a deep depressive state. Tall, square, hands folded, he appears contrite before the magistrates. He does not turn around when the victim tells the scene that he “traumatized” him and motivated several work interruptions. “I felt seedy,” the seller reports.

“I understand that the gentleman wants to minimize, it is easier. But as an adult, you have to take responsibility. He goes on to say that he has been employed for three years at the But store in the Linkling area. “I’m from West India, I’m French, regardless of my skin color. His manager, also in this case the civil party, adds. He evokes “unworthy remarks”. “Monsieur rebelled, went wild,” he describes. A department manager then intervened.

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A fine and compensation

“We are here to make law, not morality”, tempered the defense lawyer, Me Tibéri. He claims that there are no witnesses, other than the victims present at the trial. His client refused criminal settlement, a simplified legal procedure, to appear before the criminal court. “He wanted to face and repeat that he didn’t make these remarks,” the council insists. He quotes a sentence of the Criminal Section of the Court of Cassation, dated 2002 , recalling that the statements of the civil parties alone are not sufficient evidence to convict. Mr. Tiberi asks for his release.

But the court will not follow him. The accused is found guilty of racial public insults. He receives a fine of 500 euros, according to the demands of the prosecution. The decision must be exposed for two months to the After Sales Service of the But shop. Finally, the customer is sentenced to pay 400 euros and 600 euros to the victims to compensate them for moral damage. But this judgment is not definitive. The defense has already filed an appeal.

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