The embarrassed excuses of the ex-pilot and especially the absence of “intentional element”, finally convinced the judges. Jean Alesi, ex-French driver of Formula 1 was released this Thursday by the criminal court of Nîmes, where he was tried for having exploded with a large firecracker the window of the office of his ex-brother-in-law.
On December 19, 2021, the police were called around 10 p.m. by residents of the town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (Gard), worried by the sound of an explosion. Thanks to the plate number noted by a neighbor, the police were able to determine that the vehicle seen on the spot before driving away with all lights off belonged to José Alesi, the brother of the ex-pilot.
The former Scuderia driver (1991-1995) went to the police station the next day, where he cleared his brother, explaining that it was he who was in the car, with his son and a friend. of it, and that he himself had “stuck a big firework bought in Italy in the frame of a window in his brother-in-law’s architectural office”.
The 58-year-old pilot, as well as his 23-year-old son Guiliano, had been sent back to court “for damage to the property of others by a means dangerous to people, acts committed in the context of a family dispute”.
“An idiocy”
This Thursday, Jean Alesi again “totally” recognized the facts. “I apologize because I have never had such an embarrassing situation in my life. This is nonsense,” he said in court.
“When it farted, I was extremely shocked at the power. The intention was to laugh “by making a joke to the former companion of his sister, he explained, assuring not to be in dispute with him. “There is a family tradition of blowing up firecrackers when you are happy, and Jean Alesi was immensely happy that evening to find his son after months of separation” because of the Covid, pleaded his lawyer , Thibaut de Montbrial.
The prosecutor also considered that it was a “bad joke” and noted that Jean Alesi had compensated the victim for the costs incurred. In its judgment, the court noted “the absence of intentional element” to commit an offense and acquitted Jean Alesi and his son.