“We are all overwhelmed by our emotions with acts that escape us but, in this case, it is disproportionate” believes Damien Kincher, the general counsel. against one “dangerous man, whose guilt is established”he demanded on Tuesday a long prison sentence, either 30 years of criminal imprisonment. Sanction which must be accompanied according to him by a security sentence of 15 or 20 years and an injunction for care for five years.
Almost Slaughtered
On March 17, 2017, Mohamed Kamel “will try to slit a stranger’s throat” reminds the Advocate General to the jurors of the Hérault Assize Court. This stranger is Alain Françon, theater director, who was walking in the city center of Montpellier. He was suddenly attacked by a man who appeared behind him : a stab in the throat.
Why me ?
Called to the bar, Alain Françon, 78, still wonders what the meaning of this gesture is. He would like to understand why him? After the attack, “I rewatched the film of my life. Who could I have hurt so much? Did I humiliate, hurt, upset someone?…” And he confides that he was finally relieved to learn from the investigators that it could have happened to anyone.
“I am not a killer” – Mohamed Kamel
Pressed to explain his gesture, Mohamed Kamel limits himself to answering that he does not know what got into him. Will he just manage to say that he “felt threatened”. We know that that morning, the 33-year-old Algerian, diagnosed as a psychopath by the psychiatrist expert, had just been turned away at the entrance to the prefecture where he intended to recover his residence permit, because he did not hadn’t made an appointment. The police officers on duty remember a man who was very angry, insulting, threatening.
An injury that could have been fatal
Shortly after, Mohamed Kamel and Alain Françon found themselves alone in the same alley. In fact, the director just remembers being “jostling” and it was only a few minutes later that he realized that he was bleeding profusely. He first asked for help from a passerby who got scared and didn’t stop. Fortunately, he then ran into Aymeric Audibert, 17, who was walking with his girlfriend.
“Guardian Angels” provide first aid
Right away, they notice her bloody sweater and scarf. They call the fire department and have Alain Francon sit against a wall. The wound is impressive : it goes from the left ear to the base of the neck. Aymeric keeps his cool. “We said to ourselves that if we panicked, he would also panic and that it would be complicated for him”.
Cécile Claude, administrative director in a medical center, then leaves a shop and she sees a crowd. People as if in a state of amazement but also onlookers watching and, sitting on the ground, this injured man. Immediately, she thinks about compressing the wound. “I was holding him, I felt him collapse, he turned white, he was sweating a lot and I heard groans. I thought his last hour had come.”
A chain of solidarity
Sophie Sultana arrives in turn, she was alerted by Aymeric because she ran a pharmacy a few streets away. She equipped herself with pressure dressings to slow bleeding. Alain Françon is completely lost, “as if he was unaware of what was happening to him”. And then the firefighters finally arrived.
The court wished to solemnly salute the civility and bravery of Aymeric, Cécile and Sophie, who saved a man’s life. “I find it completely normal, I hope that the same would have been done for me” reacts Sophie Sultana, “and today I am very happy that he is well”.
The trial ends on Wednesday with the defense argument and then the jurors will retire to decide the fate of Mohamed Kamel.