Car Chases, Guns and a Woman Blind Drunk Keep Monaco’s Courts Busy

Hallucinating Levels of Alcohol Leads to Real “Bumping Cars”

Two vehicles solidly pranged by a lady in her 40s as she attempted to negotiate the exit of a parking lot in Fontvieille. Hardly a discreet exit, a commotion enough to have the guardian of the car park call the police who intercepted her soon after. One hour after the incidents she tested for alcohol levels still 6 times the limit. Enough to make someone virtually comatose. The cause – two flasks of vodka drunk immediately in the car park she later admitted in court. The defence noted her depression and heavy responsibility raising a child alone. Two prior convictions, both alcohol related evidenced someone in crisis having difficulty dealing with their alcohol problem. How to focus her on a turnaround in her behaviour? The Court ruled: a 5 months suspended jail sentence two years probation while checked as free from abuse of alcohol 500 euro fine for fleeing the scene of an accident Forbidden to drive in the Principality for 6 months 

Can a Serial Shoplifter escape Jail? The Court Decides

A serial shoplifter and sadly it seems he was doing it as a means to subsist. A Russian in his thirties from Nice was caught red-handed in a Monaco shopping Centre – after previously warned for theft months earlier in a Pharmacy in the Principality. This time the police discovered a portable phone had just been stolen from a store. The thief pushed aside the police and fled only to be intercepted soon after. A thick file of previous convictions in France led the Court to rule against even the Prosecution’s recommendation for a suspended prison sentence. Straight to jail for one month. No reprieve. In the face of a gun – the Police stand firm and Make the Arrest 

A Car Chase then Faced with a Gun – the Police Get Their Man 

The bravery of the police is never to be underestimated. A young Moroccan mechanic and a female student from Spain alighted on a luxury yacht in Monaco harbour in the wee hours of the morning after midnight and stole a bike and a trottinette. Due to cameras on the yacht and camera surveillance in the Principality they were identified and spotted the next day in a car driving around Monte Carlo. It wasn’t such a simple arrest. The Moroccan had a gun and accelerated away with the police giving chase. Eventually blocked by more police the occupants surrendered having sheathed the gun – thank goodness! You have to be brave to be a policeman. The Court had no ears for clemency or a suspended sentence. Straight to jail for 15 days for the mastermind and a 300 euro fine for the other.