Moroccan Man Sentenced for Nightclub Assault in Caen, France

The events took place in the early morning of July 30, 2021, on the Quai Vendeuvre in Caen (Calvados). Intoxicated, the Moroccan man seized a stick and assaulted three friends as they were leaving a nightclub. The latter were also intoxicated. Alerted, the police went to the scene. The aggressor was arrested. Two of the victims suffered from bruises with four and two days of incapacity for work, while the third was hit in the head and seriously injured in the hand, reports Ouest France. The latter had to undergo surgery. The doctor gave him 42 days of work stoppage (ITT).

On Monday, the defendant was tried in immediate appearance before the Caen criminal court. At the stand, this homeless man tried to justify his act. He says he was the victim of an assault and insults but mistook the target. "I didn’t think, I know I was wrong to do that," he admits. However, he does not acknowledge having stolen the watch of one of the victims. A watch found in his pocket.

The thirty-year-old is known to the justice services. In 2016, he had been convicted in Cherbourg for domestic violence. Deputy prosecutor Gwenaëlle Coto is demanding nine months of actual imprisonment and the revocation of the five months of suspended sentence from 2016, with detention, a five-year ban on possessing a weapon and a five-year ban on being on French territory. He "is in the country legally and no longer has family in Morocco. His whole life is here, he is the father of a child, he is in training," pleads Master Gaillard, his lawyer.

The verdict is in: the defendant is sentenced to one year of probationary suspended imprisonment. He is required to work or train, and to undergo care. He is prohibited from possessing a weapon for five years. He is also ordered to pay 1,000 euros to the most seriously injured victim and 500 euros to the other two.