Driving under cocaine and without a license, a former homeless man sentenced to Draguignan

A former homeless man living in a mobile home in Grimaud, Bruce does it on occasion. He drives his van without a license or insurance on occasion. He sniffs a small rail of coke, on occasion. He maintains a handful of villas on occasion.

Disillusioned by a long life of wandering, he answered without much conviction the questions of the magistrates of the criminal court of Draguignan.

Yes, he hasn’t had a license for 20 years. Yes he has a criminal record as long as his arm but he had the impression that it was working out for him. Yes, he takes morphine to cure the pain of an insidious disease.

“He spent more than 10 years sleeping in his car”

The gendarmes therefore found a lot of white in his veins, on March 28, during a banal road check in Gassin. And, bad luck for him, this Wednesday, the day he was notified of 4 months in prison for offenses dating from 2020, the gendarmes fell on him… still at the wheel of the said truck!

“I was just going 500 meters to move it“, sighs the defendant. The constabulary takes things seriously and sends him immediately to court for an immediate appearance.

“The defendant does not care about justice!“, annoys the prosecutor, Débora Collombier. “You pay for your mistakes, you are not aware of your addiction problems“.

The magistrate requests a mixed sentence with the obligation of care, work and retaking her license for “help him get out of this vicious circle“.

The defense lawyer, Me Ben Ali, excuses his client for “annoyance“that he can trigger at the hearing. “He suffers socially and in his flesh. He spent more than 10 years sleeping in his car. He tries to reintegrate, the major problem is this license“.

The court followed the requisitions by condemning Bruce to 12 months in prison, including 4 months, with obligations to help with reintegration.

“This immediate incarceration will restore you” tempers the president, Marie-José Coureau-Vergnolle. There are opportunities not to be missed.

–