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Blundering judge frees notorious 'drug ring'

Sophie Inge
Sophie Inge - [email protected]
Blundering judge frees notorious 'drug ring'
File photo: Mike Fitz

Police officers in France were left fuming after a blundering judge got in a muddle with his calendar and accidentally released ten alleged members of a notorious drug ring.

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The calamitous error occurred when the magistrate at Creteil criminal court, outside Paris confused two dates in his calendar which led him to believe that the suspects had to be released back onto the streets because it would have been illegal to continue detaining them.

According to French daily Le Figaro the drug ring, known as 'Shitland', had established a "reign of terror" over an estate in Boullereaux, which has one of the highest rates for the trafficking of cannabis in the Paris area.

The gang, who had reportedly graffitied 'Bienvenue à Shitland!' (Welcome to Shitland) onto the walls of the estate, are accused of robbing residents' of their shopping on their way home from the market and demanding that neighbours pay them €10 to use the lift in their block of flats. 

They are due to face trial in April and police believed it was necessary to keep them in custody until then.

Officers were said to be "furious" over the judge's gaffe.

"We aren't blaming magistrates but this blunder will have a big impact. The investigation teams have put everything into this case over the past two years," Emmanuel Roux, the head of the national French Police Union told Le Figaro.

Police fear the gang may now never show up in court for the trial and are concerned about the knock-on effects of the men being allowed to roam the streets.
 
"The worst thing of all is that they will be able to walk around right under the noses of the people who witnessed their acts. They will threaten them and put all kinds of pressure on all kinds of good people with no guarantees that they will all attend their trial in April," said one police officer working in Val-de-Marne.   
 
Some police officers from the police union Alliance even pointed the finger at Justice Minister Christine Taubira. "It would be good if justice was applied to the same extent that it is demanded from police officers," Jean-Claude Delage, secretary general of the police union Alliance told Le Figaro.
 
If found guilty at trial, the gang members can expect sever jail sentences. However the magistrate's union said the case has been "severely compromised" thanks to the judge's error.
 

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