The wheels of justice turn in Monaco and fate strikes too

Detectives Capture A Professional Bicycle-Thief in Monaco

A plague of bicycle thefts in Monaco amounted to 40 in a year! Monaco detectives and the courts have risen to the challenge. The result – finally intercepted a criminal who would pay for his crime with a jail sentence.

The scene, sports store, mid-July last year – a 1000 euro bicycle locked to a post. A habitual criminal from Romania goes to work on the bike’s anti-theft device with a screwdriver and sharp pliers. Except the culprit did not take into account Monaco’s surveillance cameras and detective team. Recognized on camera and intercepted two weeks later in possession of the pliers and the screwdriver used in the crime. Dismissed as a fairy tale his claim to need the tools to work on the black as an electrician. Also rejected his claim he had been asked to bring the bike to a man in Cap d’Ail who he thought was the owner.

The video surveillance was clear – he had tampered with the anti-theft device and made off with his prize.

A habitual criminal with a long record of illegal activity in Romania, he was sentenced to one-month firm in prison though he was a no-show at the hearing. The prosecution had asked for a two-month jail sentence, which the judge pared back. Monaco detectives are hard at work to catch bike thieves and halt the thefts. A day in court and prison awaits the most serious offenders.

Domestic Violence Punished

The police were called to separate a Monegasque couple who were having a violent verbal argument in their apartment. They noticed red marks on the woman’s face. The husband, an unemployed man in his thirties swore he had not hit her. She was sent for a medical examination, but she did not file a complaint even though the doctor found evidence of bruising. Her mother however did file a complaint of domestic violence against her son-in-law for mistreating her daughter.

The conduct of the couple in court was very strange with the woman at first supporting the husband’s claims that he never abused his wife in any way, either verbally or physically. Of course, she could well have been intimidated by the presence of her husband.

The magistrate quickly got to the bottom of it – the medical evidence was clear; the woman had bruises to her ribs that had been caused by being punched. He confronted the woman with the evidence and she admitted that it had indeed been her husband who had punched her.

It turned out that the husband had a long list of prior offenses committed in France, including carrying a weapon, forgery and drug offenses. However, he kept up his pretence that he had never abused his wife. A sentence of 6 months in jail was requested by the prosecution; the court agreed that the offense was serious and came down with a suspended sentence of four months in jail.

Beware Crossing the White Dividing Line on the Basse and Moyenne Corniche – it can be fatal!

Almost within site of the Mayor’s office a tragic accident took place very recently on the Basse Corniche in Cap d’Ail. An over-enthusiastic cyclist glued too close to the rear of the car in front paid a heavy price when the car braked. Losing his balance and his feet trapped in the pedals he fell on his shoulder across the white line in the middle of the road. Destiny would have it that at that precise moment an elongated bus from the Cote d’Azur line was coming from the other direction. It was too late to react.The bus-driver was unsighted anyway as the back wheel of the bus ran over the unfortunate cyclist. After a thorough investigation by the police and two witness accounts, justice led to the bus-driver being exonerated of any fault. He had had no opportunity to veer away. Truly a sad tragedy with a fatal result.

The Mayor of Cap d’Ail is reported as cautioning against crossing the white dividing line, having seen many cyclists in the past crossing the line. In effect cyclists are riding on the wrong side of the road. There is a 30 km/h speed limit and a speed bump. The Mayor is reported as seeing too many hazardous situations with reckless cyclists. There needs to be more awareness of the dangers they are courting. In this particular tragic case, crossing the dividing line was a result of riding too close to the car in front. Crossing the white line was not intentional. Sadly a life is lost.