Var Assizes: Life sentence demanded in deadly settling of scores in Toulon
Four men are appearing before the special court of assizes of Var for the murder of Helvin Saoula, shot dead in 2018 in the Guynemer neighbourhood. The prosecution has sought sentences ranging from twelve years to life imprisonment.
Var Assizes: Life sentence demanded in deadly settling of scores in Toulon
The special court of assizes of Var has been hearing the case for several days of four individuals involved in a homicide committed on 12 March 2018 in Toulon. Helvin Saoula, aged 21, was killed by a shotgun blast to the back whilst he was with two acquaintances at the foot of a building in the Guynemer estate. His companions managed to flee, wounded but alive.
Rida Tarrifou, nicknamed "Démon", Sofian Hoarau, James Fourez and Louis Cornu are being prosecuted for homicide and attempted homicide by an organised group. During the investigation, each had denied any involvement. Then, during hearings last week, three defendants — Hoarau, Fourez and Cornu — admitted their presence at the scene at the time of the events.
The motive put forward by the prosecution is based on a prior physical altercation. Deputy public prosecutor Amandine Sbragi explained that Tarrifou allegedly received a slap in circumstances still poorly defined, and then mobilised his accomplices to "wash away the insult". According to her submissions, Fourez allegedly drove a stolen Clio, on Hoarau's suggestion, knowing that the objective was to open fire.
Expert reports state there were five detonations, all from a single weapon. Two projectiles were fired into the open air, three inside a building hallway, in immediate proximity to the target. "The shooter could not have been unaware that he was aiming at the victim," the prosecution representative asserted, adding that the intention to kill was "collective" in view of the coordination observed.
The use of a stolen vehicle, the distribution of roles within the group and the retrieval of weapons from a person serving as a cache would, according to her, have established the organised nature of the punitive expedition.
The submissions made by the deputy public prosecutor break down as follows: twelve years' imprisonment for Cornu and Fourez, the latter also having to comply with judicial supervision of five years; thirty years' imprisonment with a security period of two-thirds for Tarrifou; and finally life imprisonment with a security period of twenty-two years for Hoarau.
The defence lawyers contested the classification as an organised group. Patrick Giovannangeli, counsel for Hoarau, argued that no planning had preceded the events. "The car and the weapons were already accessible. Nobody needed to scout the area, he knew it perfectly well. No consultation took place," he argued. The defenders of Fourez and Cornu advanced a similar argument, insisting that their clients were unaware of the exact nature of the operation.
Source: Nice-Matin
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)