British burglary victims to relive ordeal as attackers appeal in France
The couple were attacked during the burglary in Lot-et-Garonne in 2022
The four men responsible will appeal this week
sylv1rob1/Shutterstock/Screen capture of Google Maps
A retired British couple who were the victims of a brutal homejacking in 2022 are set to face their attackers for a second time, as the men convicted launch an appeal.
The four men convicted by a court in Agen last year are appealing against their convictions and sentences in a Cahors appeal court. The hearing was scheduled to begin today March 18 and last until March 25.
Couple Célia Bridges and Bernard Hayes, who were 80 and 73 at the time, were asleep in bed in their home in the village of Hautefage-la-Tour, Lot-et-Garonne, when they were woken by a noise downstairs.
During the original trial, the court heard how the couple were left bleeding, battered and bruised, while their bedroom was spattered with their blood during the attack, carried out by three men while a fourth waited in a car outside.
Mr Hayes was hit and knocked out, while Ms Bridges had a necklace she was wearing ripped from her neck.
Mr Hayes told the court that the violence against them was extreme and worse than anything he had seen, including during his time in the army.
The robbers, who were masked and carrying knives, stayed in the house for 15 minutes, before leaving with mobile phones and several thousand euros in cash.
The couple were so traumatised by the attack that they left France to return to the UK.
The court was told that it was likely that the couple were targeted because one of the men had worked as a plumber’s mate years before while work was being done in the house, and got the impression that they were “rich.”
Tarik El Malouani, 34, Fouad Faize, 39, Yslem Adib, 34, were sentenced to 14, 12 and 10 years in jail, while Abderrahmane Gomri, 30, was sentenced to four years.
Investigators found that the four men, all of whom were regular illegal drug users, knew each other before the break in.
At the trial El Malouani recognised his role in the attack but is appealing because the lower court said he was the leader of the gang, something he denies.
Gendarmes arrested the men in the months after the attack after tracing jewellery and other items stolen from the house, which they tried to sell on.
Both Ms Bridges and Mr Hayes gave evidence at the Agen court case and will do so again in Cahors.
Court officials have cleared five days for the trial.
France’s burglary rates are slightly higher than those in the UK, with an average of 5.87 per 1,000 homes in 2024, compared to 4.14 burglaries per 1,000 people in the UK.
