Carjacking: sentences of 4 to 6 years for the perpetrators
On Friday 12 June, the Saint-Martin Criminal Court sentenced three men involved in several aggravated robberies committed in November 2025. The sentences were handed down whilst the offenders were appearing as repeat offenders for similar offences.
On 22 November 2025, at around 5 am, two men and their accomplice went to the Béthany Home care home in Marigot. Armed with an iron bar and a handgun, they attempted to steal a vehicle by holding up its owner. The robbery, carried out by a group of people, involving violence and with their faces concealed, failed thanks to the victim’s resistance. Far from stopping there, the perpetrators set off again, driven by their accomplice. Half an hour later, using the same modus operandi, they this time succeeded in stealing a vehicle from its owner.
The investigation would also reveal the theft of number plates as well as another theft committed on 23 November 2025. A few months later, in April 2026, whilst being arrested by the police at his home, one of the perpetrators fled. Caught by the police, he kicked one of them in the face, leaving him completely unable to work for three days. At the hearing, the three defendants, who were already being held at Baie-Mahault prison, appeared particularly agitated. The lawyer for one of them reported that one of the defendants had exerted pressure on the other two, allegedly attempting to dictate the version of events they were to present to the court. After deliberation, the court found all three defendants guilty. The driver of the vehicle used to commit these offences was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment without parole.
The perpetrator who carried an iron bar during the robberies was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, the third defendant, who was armed at the time of the offences, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the robberies, plus an additional year for the escape offences. All three men were ordered to remain in custody. In civil proceedings, the three convicted men are jointly and severally liable to pay 3,500 euros in compensation for non-pecuniary damage and 1,200 euros for the material damage suffered by the victim, whose vehicle was stolen on 22 November. The last perpetrator was also ordered to pay the injured gendarme €1,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
