Tuesday January 16, 2024, a sixty-year-old residing in Pessac (Gironde) had to answer for his actions before the Bordeaux criminal court. According to the newspaper South Westthe grandfather, who had custody of his grandson when he was only two years old, was tried for breach of trust to the detriment of a vulnerable person. In total, it is the sum of 118,000 euros which he stole from the child before he came of age. “One day, I received a big check made out to me. I cashed it even though it wasn’t intended for me. It’s my stupidity, my monumental mistake“, he admitted in court. This sum was none other than the amount of compensation received by the little boy following the death of his family. The parents, as well as his older brother and his unborn sister were killed in a car accident near Saint-Médard-de-Mussidan (Dordogne), on September 14, 2004. Then barely two years old, the the only survivor of the terrible accident, orphaned, was entrusted to his maternal grandfather. “It was only me, otherwise it was the DDASS”did he declare.
The grandfather admitted to having lost his footing
Legally responsible for the child and indirect victim of the accident, the defendant explained that he had received compensation over the years: “There were payments for my grandson and others for me”. The sixty-year-old, who said he “lost footing”then explained that he had used the amounts in different ways: loan to a loved one, purchase of vehicle, etc.. “I was in a catastrophic psychological situation, I could not bear the pain of losing my daughter”, he then defended himself. It was his partner, who has since been appointed as the young man’s guardian, who discovered the facts in 2021. For his part, the grandson was not present during the hearing. According to the newspaper South West, he would no longer have contact with the one who raised him. For the civil party’s lawyer, it is regrettable that the grandfather, even if he admitted the facts, did not Did not have “a word of affection” for the orphan. “He talks about mistakes, but you don’t make the same mistake five times”he finally declared. “You plucked him, robbed him”finally concluded the vice-prosecutor, Sylvie Rodrigues, condemning the sixty-year-old to reimburse the sums within twelve months.