Four sent to jail over ‘home-jacking’ in south-west France
The masked gang arrived at home of retired couple armed with a gun and demanded valuables. The wife and a house cleaner were tied up
One of the two armed robberies happened in the Tarn town of Gaillac (Occitanie), and the group was later arrested near to the city of Albi
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The four perpetrators of a ‘home-jacking’ in south-west France have been jailed by a court in Toulouse in south-west France.
The incidents happened in the towns of Cunac in the Tarn.
What happened?
The prosecutor confirmed the details of the crimes to local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi. ‘Home-jacking’ is an English-sounding term used in French to describe an armed robbery, or what is sometimes called an ‘aggravated burglary’.
The four include twin brothers aged 19.
On the morning of December 8, three of them appeared at the home of a retired couple in Cunac, with their faces covered, and armed with a gun and demanded that the couple give them their valuables.
The husband was injured trying to protect his wife, who was tied up by the criminals during the attack as was the couple’s house cleaner, who was at the property at the time. The trio then fled the house with cash, jewellery, and bank cards.
Four days later on December 12, the same three tried to rob a representative at the Gayet Automobile garage in Gaillac. Despite the alarm going off the criminals entered, beat the man up and forced him to reveal his bank card PIN code at gunpoint. He was injured as he tried to escape.
Arrest and trial
The trio fled in the direction of the city of Albi and were finally arrested by police and gendarmerie in the early hours of December 13 after police linked them to three people seen in a parked car.
On December 15, they appeared before a criminal court in Toulouse.
A fourth individual, a local artisan, has also been charged. He did not take part in the attacks but admitted to having supplied the trio with a firearm, and having ‘tipped them off’ to the elderly couple’s home, after having worked with the husband - also an artisan - previously.
None of the four had a previous criminal record.
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