Addiction, drunkenness and theft leads to Prison
There are individuals whose alcohol addictions are so strong that they will attempt to steal even faced with a store with obviously tight security. This was the case of an unemployed youth in his 20s who had a list of prior infractions almost equal to his age. He would go into a store in a drunken state, steal a bottle, typically vodka, and resort to various forms of trickery to hide his theft. His subterfuges ranged from hiding a stolen bottle in his underwear to pouring the contents of a good bottle of vodka into cheaper cans of soft drink. The presence of good security and cameras didn’t deter him. He was ready to flee if need be when approached. Eventually between the security and the police, he was caught fleeing and placed under guard. Even a psychiatric exam yielded little clue to his underlying motivations. Faced with a youth determined to steal and plenty of security camera evidence the Court sentenced him to a month in prison, though he managed to be absent at the hearing.
Concert Interrupted by Attack on Stage and Sexual Assault
Drunkenness seems to have inspired an outrageous event at a Monaco concert. A celebrity was singing when a man jumped on the stage to take the microphone from him. The security managed to rescue the situation so that the concert could continue and the man expelled. However, the man was in such an excited state that he managed to re-enter the concert and mount the stage again for another grab at the microphone – and grab a woman in a sexually sensitive area. Aggravating the situation, he fought with security so aggressively that it took about five guards to subdue him, and one suffered serious dental damage in the process. The subsequent Court case revolved mainly over a civil complaint for damages in the region of 10.000 euros for the serious dental damage. There were additional complaints and a fine of 1000 euros for evident violent behaviour. Total fines, including the civil ones could amount to five figures when the expert assessments were completed; certainly, an expensive and bizarre incident for which drunkenness had played a role in inflaming.
Elderly Lady Financially Taken Advantage of by Paramedic
A paramedic had managed to gain the trust of a woman in her 90s on medical trips with her. Her relatives were concerned she had diminished capacity to make decisions and the paramedic appeared to have an uncanny ability to access her funds. This included a loan in excess of 65.000 euros and other transactions for supposed investments and projects, and special circumstances, all also in five figure amounts or more. There was in addition a worrying use of her bankcard – possibly for his personal groceries. All in all a very disturbing pattern of taking advantage of an elderly woman, where there were concerns by her relatives of diminished responsibility. Fortunately, they had noticed the unusual transactions from her bank account. Even though the defense disputed the bad conduct, the Court was sufficiently convinced of the criminality of the behaviour of the paramedic as to declare a one year suspended prison sentence, restitution of funds to the woman and over 10.000 euros of damages.
