Four Aveyron suspects tried for violent assault in Albi
Four young people from Aveyron are facing justice for assaulting a drug dealer and severing his hand during an attempted extortion in April 2024. The oldest risks up to 20 years in prison.
Assault and mutilation during attempted extortion
According to centrepresseaveyron.fr, four young people from Aveyron are being prosecuted for a violent assault committed on 5 April 2024 in Albi. Around midnight, on Rue Rayssac, the suspects — aged 16 to 20 — attacked a 33-year-old man, a drug dealer, who was in his car with his partner and his 4-year-old son. The assault took place during a meeting arranged for a drug transaction, but which turned into an ambush.
Armed with bladed weapons and a fake firearm, the four young people first assaulted the woman, then attacked the man in his thirties who tried to intervene. The oldest of the suspects, aged 20, severed his hand with a billhook. The attackers fled before emergency services arrived. The victim was taken to Purpan University Hospital in Toulouse; his hand was reattached, but he risks graft rejection and will probably not regain full use of it.
Swift identification and committal for trial
Albi's CCTV cameras made it possible to identify the suspects quickly. Three of them — two minors aged 16 and a young man aged 18 — were arrested on 8 April in Aveyron and remanded in custody. The fourth suspect, the 20-year-old presumed to be responsible for the mutilation, turned himself in the same day. All four have been committed for trial for "attempted extortion with violence resulting in mutilation". The assault is believed to have been motivated by a debt that the drug dealer had incurred with the oldest member of the group.
Current judicial situation
According to information from 19 November, the three suspects with no criminal record were released over the summer and placed under judicial supervision. The fourth, the oldest, remains in remand custody. He risks a sentence of up to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of €150,000. The entire group is expected to be tried shortly by the Tarn criminal court and the assize court for minors.
Impact on the family
The 4-year-old child, traumatised by the assault, was removed from his parents' care and placed in care or with a foster family.
Source: TF1 Info