Late, in the evening of Tuesday May 24, the police custody of the detainee, who had taken, at the beginning of the afternoon, a doctor hostage at the Angers remand center (Maine-et-Loire)has been lifted. “He was subject to compulsory hospitalization in a psychiatric unit”, indicated, this Wednesday, May 25, Eric Bouillard, district Attorney d’Angers.
Around 2:20 p.m., the man had locked himself with the doctor in a room in the medical unit. He had threatened him with a pen, “which was not a home-made weapon”, says the prosecutor. The man had placed the pen under the throat and on the face of the victim.
What structure for the sick?
The question now is whether a detainee who has psychiatric disorders should be remanded in a remand center?
The prison unions, Ufpap Unsa (autonomous federal prison union) Justice and FO, pointed to this problem in a press release. “We can only see, once again, that the Angevin structure is not suitable for this kind of mental patient. Their place is more in a psychiatric hospital or in a specialized establishment. We ask the local management to make every effort to ensure that these individuals are assigned to appropriate structures. More and more imbalances are taking place within our walls and it is becoming unmanageable”, indicates the Uppap Unsa Justice.
The union also denounces prison overcrowding and puts forward figures: “To date, the Angers remand center has nearly 440 prisoners for only 240 places. People are exhausted and two officers for three levels can find themselves managing more than 150 detainees. »
According to the interregional directorate of penitentiary services, the figures as of May 24 were 430 detainees for 266 places.
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