Two young men received four-months sentences at a court in the Paris region for stealing the iPad of a local prefect and employee of the Health and Social Affairs Minister
The iPad in question belonged to the Prefect of the Val d’Oise – a high-ranking civil servant working in the department north of Paris and a former employee of Health and Social Affairs Minister Ms Marisol Touraine. He was travelling on the suburban RER train when the offence took place.
Newly-appointed Jean-Luc Névache, who “often takes the RER, like everybody else”, according to a member of his entourage, was robbed of a pouch containing his iPad and other documentation last Sunday evening at around 10pm. The thieves weren’t aware that they were stealing from the man who could decide their fate.
The robbery took place at the Pierrelay station. “One of them faced me, then distracted me while the other stole my pouch,” explained the prefect during his legal deposition.
“They ran off down the platform. I got out and ran after them,” added Mr Névache, a former director at the office of Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine. The two hapless criminals – aged 19 and 20 – were identified courtesy of surveillance video and were sentenced by the Pointoise court on Friday to four months prison. Both criminals had a number of previous convictions and had definitely picked on the wrong man on this occasion.