AND HERE IS THE NEWS…
….a quick glance at the latest local news with Caroline Manson
Sangliers cause road accident
On Saturday evening, four wild boars made the unfortunate error of trying to cross the D914 in Argelès-sur-Mer. Two cars were unable to stop and ploughed into the animals, all of whom died as a result of the impacts. Emergency services were mobilised and one of the drivers was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.
High speed car chase in Perpignan
When police spotted the driver of a Peugeot 308 travelling too fast, and also making a turn without using his indicator (these seem to be an ‘optional extra’ on French cars) they decided to stop him. The driver was having none of this and sped off on the D900 towards Bas-Vernet, ignoring red traffic lights and one-way signs. He also ignored a dead end sign which resulted in him being trapped, with the police car behind him. He reversed twice, causing major damage to the police car, but ended up being arrested. He was remanded in custody to await trial but as he is already known to the police and was driving without a licence or insurance, he can expect to remain there.
Man with knife arrested
Pedestrians, motorists and local residents were terrified when they were randomly threatened by a man waving a 20cm kitchen knife. The man was seen in the vicinity of rue Marcelin Albert in Perpignan, where he was quickly arrested. The 30 year old man had been homeless and living on the streets for 8 years. He was sentenced to 3 months in prison, which was possibly his intention.
Man damages more than 50 cars
During a 2 day period, over 50 cars have been found damaged in the towns of Saint Cyprien and Saint-Andrè. The damage ranged from scratches on the paintwork to flat tires. After receiving several reports, the investigators were quickly able to identify the perpetrator – a man in his sixties who was arrested near several of the damaged vehicles. He will now have to explain his actions to the courts.
Man jailed for 9 years for attacking friend
On trial facing charges of ‘violence that led to permanent infirmity’, a 40 year old man has been sentenced to 9 years in jail for a vicious attack that took place at his home in Saint-Laurent-de-Salanque. His friend had allegedly vomited on the bed, which inspired such a fit of rage in the perpetrator that he started to punch and kick his friend, followed up by hitting him over the head with a frying pan and a radiator. The attack was so violent that the victim permanently lost the use of one eye.
Lightening causes two fires in the Conflent
While we appear to have escaped the worst of Storm Ciaran, the weather has caused problems up in the Conflent region. Two dazzling lightening strikes were seen, causing fires to break out in Ayguatèbia and on the peak of Tres Estelles. The roads leading up to these areas are dangerous and unpaved so helicopters and firefighters assembled on the stadium ground at Vernet to assist three firefighters from Olette who managed to get to the scene and provide them with extra water and equipment as they had been digging manually with shovels.
Wind causes problem on Collioure Viaduct
Early on Thursday morning, strong winds sweeping across the Douy viaduct (the 50 metre high bridge between Collioure and Port-Vendres) caused a lorry and a motorhome to tip over, blocking the carriageway. Luckily nobody was injured but the road was closed all morning and a detour was set in place on the RD114.
And finally…
If you’ve ever wondered what happened to those parcels you ordered but did not receive, perhaps you should check out Destock Colis in Toulouse. Since the ‘anti-waste’ law of 2022 prohibits the disposal of unsold non-food items, Destock Colis had decided to recover all these unclaimed packages (from Amazon, Colissimo etc) and offer them for sale by weight not by content, rather like a lottery. Prices ranged from 5 – 25 euros per package and the concept was that customers would arrive, buy tickets at a counter for whatever size parcel they were buying, then go into the warehouse and take a random parcel, hoping perhaps to find the latest I-Phone inside but accepting the risk that the parcel could just contain thermal socks.
A great concept but the company quickly realised they were the victims of their own success – on the day of the sale hundreds of people started queuing from 7am, 60% of those left with no packages as there weren’t enough to go round, and many people started ripping open the parcels in the warehouse before choosing whether to keep the contents of not. The organisers declared it to be a ‘disaster’ – but say that next time they will have more goods, more employees and above all, security guards.
A similar problem occurred this week at the Emmaus charity warehouse when they opened their traditional Christmas Tunnel offering all manner of festive goods at bargain prices: volunteers were shocked and scared at the behaviour of customers who rushed in, fighting and jostling over the goods and snatching decorations out of each others hands. They are now restricting entrance to 10 customers at a time and hope that the true Spirit of Christmas will be restored shortly….
Although this story is true, there are a number of scams with a similar theme so please do be careful!
