In Corconne in the Gard, Mayor Lionel Jean and his team were threatened with beheading on September 20, 2023 by a resident of this rural town, because of a dispute linked to town planning. Already convicted in court, this sixty-year-old was placed in detention until his appearance this Thursday before the Alès criminal court.
The facts date back to September 20, when a bailiff came to the home of a resident of this small Gard commune located north of Sommières, to give him a letter relating to a town planning dispute, informing him that his illegal constructions were going to be destroyed.
The sixty-year-old then threatened to kill the municipal team and, claiming that he knew where to find the mayor, that he was going to chop off his head with an axe.
Already sentenced to 12 years in prison
Comments transmitted to the police, who opened an investigation. These threats then seemed to have been taken seriously because the person who made them had already been convicted, in 1993, by the Gard Assize Court for having shot and injured a person with a firearm.
Arrested, the sixty-year-old, who has lived in this village for a long time, was placed in pre-trial detention until Thursday, September 28, the date of his trial for immediate appearance before the Alès criminal court.
A hearing from which this wine grower emerged free this Thursday evening, the courts having sentenced him to six months in prison with a simple suspended sentence and the obligation to complete a citizenship course but without removal measures.
However, the prosecutor had requested 10 months in prison and a three-year removal order. Lionel Jean, mayor of the village since 1998, regrets that these requisitions were not followed by the justice system, but nevertheless claims to remain calm.
Above all, I hope that the situation calms down and that the village regains its calm. That all this remains only empty words.
Lionel Jean, mayor of Corconne
If the village councilor remains positive, some members of his team admit to being more worried.
Philippe Ribot, the president of the association of rural mayors of Gard, says he is ready to support these local elected officials: “We will contact the municipal team to see what they want to put in place for the future.” he explained by telephone.
#threatens #kill #mayor #village #months #prison #removal #sixtyyearold #Gard
