Foix: repeat offender sentenced to two years in prison six weeks after release
A 33-year-old man was sentenced to two years in custody in Foix following a refusal to comply with police while driving without a licence, under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
"I am better off in prison": two years in custody for a Foix repeat offender
According to Google News FR — Crime (fr), Steven (*), 33 years old, originally from Villeneuve-sur-Lot, of no fixed abode and unemployed, appeared on 18 August before the Foix magistrates' court for refusal to comply with police, driving under the influence of drugs and driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. Barely a month and a half after his release from detention, he was sent straight back behind bars.
His criminal record already included thirteen convictions, including four for refusal to comply with police, even before this new court appearance.
The facts of 21 July on the RN 20
On 21 July 2026, Steven took the wheel of his father's car on the RN 20, at Pamiers, heading towards Toulouse. A police patrol noticed his erratic driving and attempted to intercept him. The driver accelerated. It was only two kilometres further on that police officers finally managed to stop him.
As he exited the vehicle, Steven "smelled of alcohol, had glassy eyes". Analysis revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.43 gramme per litre and a positive result for THC. He had no longer held a driving licence since 2017.
"I did not see them"
Before the court president, Steven contested having deliberately fled from law enforcement. "I did not see them. And when I saw them, I stopped immediately," he stated. He also denied drug use: "I stopped heroin, it is not to take cannabis."
To justify his presence behind the wheel, he explained that he had drunk three glasses of vodka in the early afternoon before taking to the road, claiming he could not take the train because, in his own words, there were "unsavoury individuals at the station".
The court president countered this version with the evidence in the case: "The individual was driving with the window open and could hear the police officers' verbal commands."
Psychological assessment missing from the case file
During his police custody, Steven allegedly banged his head against a wall and against a bench. A psychological assessment was ordered, but its conclusions had not yet been added to the case file at the time of the hearing. His solicitor, Anthony Lesprit, requested an adjournment on this ground. The court president decided to proceed regardless.
Mr Lesprit regretted the absence of this document: "I would have liked to know whether the facts alleged against my client were linked to his addictions." He argued for a sentence that would allow his client to receive treatment and to "become firmly established in society", highlighting his social and psychological distress.
"The defendant is a danger to society"
The Republic's prosecutor took the opposite position. "The defendant is a danger to society," she stated. Steven himself, in the witness box, made little attempt to moderate the proceedings: "When I get out, I will fall back into heroin," he said. The court president replied: "One is not obliged to fall into tragedy."
Released from detention on 10 June 2026, he had therefore not waited two months before finding himself in trouble again.
Twenty months for driving, four for refusal to comply
The court sentenced Steven to 20 months in custody for driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs and whilst under the influence of alcohol, and to 4 months in custody for refusal to comply with police, totalling two years in custody. He was remanded directly into detention at the end of the hearing.
Before leaving the courtroom, he summed up his situation in a few words, spoken in the witness box: "I do not have the mind for work. Throughout my life, I have done nothing but prison. I do not want help from anyone. I am better off in prison."
() The name has been changed.*
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)