Escape of Rédoine Faïd in 2018: the repeat robber sentenced to 14 years in prison

2023-10-26 03:04:13

After seven weeks of hearing, which fascinated the public, the verdict fell late in the night from Wednesday to Thursday. Rédoine Faïd was sentenced by the Paris Assize Court to 14 years in prison in his trial for his spectacular escape by helicopter from Réau prison (Seine-et-Marne) on July 1, 2018. The prosecution had requested 22 years of criminal imprisonment.

The court left to deliberate in an undisclosed location after the defendants’ last words Monday morning. The professional magistrates and jurors had to answer 194 questions on the guilt and responsibility of each of the 12 accused, including two brothers and three nephews of the 51-year-old repeat robber.

Heard one last time on Monday, Rédoine Faïd, looking solemn, began by apologizing to the helicopter pilot sitting in front of him, taken hostage by his brother Rachid and others on July 1, 2018 to go and free him from Réau prison. “If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t do it. I ruined lives, traumatized people,” he declared. And to promise that he will try his best not to “start again”. “I will try to do this work on myself, to project myself… Even if the prison doors have closed a little on my life,” he added.

During the hearing, Redoine Faïd, who had chosen to remain silent during the investigation, nevertheless put on a show, not depriving himself of repeated jokes about his attraction to “beautiful” people. During long hours of a presentation that seemed like a “masterclass” according to the prosecution, he recounted the meticulous organization of a plan built around an “irrational flaw”: the absence of anti-aircraft lines next to the visiting rooms. from Réau prison. They have since been installed.

At his trial, the repeat robber became a poet by remembering the “ray of sunshine” that arrived “right in his face”, the “sensation of freedom, the closed door which opens to infinity”… But the lawyers generals were more down to earth in their requisitions: “Don’t let yourself be fooled,” they told the jurors. They also recalled that Rédoine Faïd was serving heavy sentences, notably for the explosive attack on an armored van in 2011 and for his previous escape (using explosives and taking guards hostage) from a prison. of the North in 2013. Its release was set for 2046.