We’re no strangers to weird stories here on OC, but this one’s a bit
too weird even for us. A French burglar intentionally left traces of DNA
all over the crime scene just so he would end up in prison and watch
encrypted TV channel Canal+ for free.
A monthly subscription to French premium television channel Canal+
costs around 10 euros ($11), but inmates in French prisons can
apparently watch it for free, which was apparently a good enough reason
for an ex-con to commit a crime and get himself caught. Over the course
of the summer, the unnamed 25-year-old man committed a series of
burglaries in the Toulouse suburb of Colomiers, but there was something
about his modus operandi that left investigators scratching their heads.
He left traces of saliva over the crime scenes, as if he wanted his DNA
to be identified.
It turns out that the policemen’s suspicions were right, as the
criminal admitted that he had spit all over the homes he had broken into
hoping that the police would check for DNA. On September 2nd, during a
hearing before the Criminal Court, the burglar loudly proclaimed that he
wanted to go back to prison so he could watch Canal+, which shocked
even his lawyer.
“People who say that they prefer prison to the street are quite
common, but this is probably the first time I’ve defended a client who
wants to go to jail to watch adult programs,” Delphine Reynaud-Aymard, the defendant’s lawyer, told Toulouse News.
French media contacted a prison officer, who preferred to remain
anonymous, and asked him how easy it is to watch Canal+ behind bars.
Apparently, the burglar has a point, it’s cheaper or even free to watch
the premium TV channel in prison, while regular consumers have to pay
for it.
“Canal + has been available in prison for many years. With the current overcrowding in Seysses or Muret [French prisons], there can be two or three inmates per cell, and if one pays, the others benefit. The
administration can also pay the inmates’ subscription in exchange for
some work in the prison, such as cleaning communal areas,” the prison
officer said. “Also, institutions run by the Department of Justice are
so understaffed that sometimes the inmates pay nothing for months …
because they are not asked for anything!”
The burglar’s lawyer told the court that he suffers from psychiatric
conditions, and that when she last defended him he said he preferred
freedom to prison. The court asked for a psychiatric assessment before a
verdict is cast, on September 17.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen people commit crimes just to go
to prison. A few years ago we wrote about a guy who tried to rob a bank just so he could get caught and get away from his wife, and earlier this year we wrote about a Florida man who told police he would rather go to jail than home to his wife. TV channel subscription is definitely a first, though.
