The victim asks for nothing. She just wants justice to take away her toxic ex-husband. “She keeps calling me, she wants to get in touch,” says this little woman, mother of their four children. The couple divorced in 2020. But the parents have been separated for several years, since then he has laid hands on their children and sexually assaulted his wife. He took five years in prison in 2015. When he was released, his ex-wife responded to his request for help, agreed to take him in, believed his promises of repentance. Out of naivety, out of empathy, she admits.
“But it hasn’t changed, quite the contrary”, he said in front of the Thionville court. On Monday she came to tell her ordeal about her, to describe the addictions, the lies. The untenable situation finally let go on September 6th. Around 10 pm, in Uckange, the victim telephoned the gendarmes, in a panic, to report the blows, the insults, the threats from her ex-husband. The latter asked for money to pay for her crack. He stole her purse and keys before locking herself in the cellar and fleeing.
The defendant, under judicial control, would have returned to live in the North. He did not participate in her trial. “I knew there wouldn’t be,” the ex-wife slips. This is also why he dared to move. He confides his fear of seeing him reappear.
The alarm sounds at 10 km
The prosecution and the court take his concerns seriously. The 45-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, including one year. An arrest warrant has been issued against him to place him in custody. The suspended sentence of six months will be subject to a ban on going to the victim’s home and contacting him for two years. An anti-reconciliation bracelet will also be released upon release. This electronic device will notify the authorities as soon as the ex-husband approaches within 10km. Finally, justice forbade him to appear in Uckange for five years, as an additional penalty.
*Perpetrator’s name is withheld to protect underage victims.
