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OFFBEAT

Bungling French burglar gets stuck in store window and police have last laugh

In what is one of the worst getaway attempts in recent times, a reportedly drunken man has been caught by police in south western France after getting stuck in the window of a jeweler's.

Published: 20 March 2017 10:41 CET
Bungling French burglar gets stuck in store window and police have last laugh
Photo: Gerdarmerie
The thief was on his way out of a jewellery shop in Mauléon-Licharre, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, when he apparently just couldn't get his hips back through the hole he'd made in the window.
 
Police who arrived at the scene had the last laugh, sharing a picture of the man (with his face blurred out) on their social media feeds with the viral hashtag #Thuglife.
 
Fire fighters were called in to enlarge the hole in the window so they could pull the man through. 

The police later took to Facebook to share another photo of the man (see below), this time from another angle, adding a lengthy caption about the night's proceedings. 

They said that officers had earlier been called out to the scene, but had found nothing suspicious. It was during a second call out to the area that they found the bungling burglar.
 
They added that they suspected the man had made multiple trips to the jewellery store, judging by the stolen goods they found at his home. 
 
The burglar spent the night in prison and will face court on Monday. 
 

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POLITICS

France to set up national prosecutor’s office for combatting organised crime

The French Minister of Justice wants to create a national prosecutor's office dedicated to fighting organised crime and plans to offer reduced sentences for "repentant" drug traffickers.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:02 CEST
France to set up national prosecutor's office for combatting organised crime

Speaking to French Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche, Eric Dupond-Moretti said he also intends to offer “repentant” drug traffickers a change of identify.

This new public prosecutor’s office – PNACO – “will strengthen our judicial arsenal to better fight against crime at the high end of the spectrum,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

Former head of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office Jean-François Ricard, appointed a few days ago as special advisor to the minister, will be responsible for consultations to shape the reform, the details of which will be presented in October, Dupond-Moretti said.

Inspired by the pentiti (repent) law in force in Italy, which is used to fight mafia crime, Dupond-Moretti also announced that he would create a “genuine statute” that rewards repentance.

“Legislation [in France] already exists in this area, but it is far too restrictive and therefore not very effective,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

In future, a judge will be able to grant special status to a repentant criminal who has “collaborated with justice” and “made sincere, complete and decisive statements to dismantle criminal networks”.

The sentence incurred by the person concerned would be reduced and, for their protection, they would be offered, “an official and definitive change of civil status”, a “totally new” measure, the minister said.

The Minister of Justice is also proposing that, in future, special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, be entrusted not only with organised drug trafficking, as is already the case today, but also with settling scores between traffickers.

This will avoid pressure and threats on the citizen jurors who have to judge these killings, he said.

Finally, the minister plans to create a crime of “organised criminal association” in the French penal code. This will be punishable by 20 years of imprisonment.

Currently, those who import “cocaine from Colombia” risk half that sentence for “criminal association”, he said.

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