Sadly not a joke. He was stupid enough to mount some fireworks in a relationship revenge onto a window of his sister's ex. The firework exploded and destroyed the window. French Police arrested Alesi and the maximum he could get for this is ten years in prison. What a dope. PS: His son helped him in this. Two idiots.
The maximum penalty is 10 years and 150,000 euros fine, when the destruction is assumed to endanger people (that's the initial accusation, it might be reassessed). The final verdict is unlikely to approach that anyway. And then (unless in very specific cases, which it's not here) in France most people only serve half the prison sentence when there is one. Still, it's a situation sensible people would rather avoid.
A firecracker? Let him replace the window, paint the car. Make an example of it and give him a 10k euro fine so as others don't think this is a smart thing to do. Sounds to me like alcohol induced stupidity.
that and Schumacher being significantly more talented btw 10 years (or even 10 days) in prison is insane. that would be a civil lawsuit in the US for property damage. *maybe* a few months probation or community service
Sounds like a good old time with the boys. Sadly some people brought up other items which I guess we may see you in a couple of months.
Flavio_C (10 days, previous offenses) and jpalmito (5 days, fewer previous offenses) banned for P&R in F1.
Or, could it be that the prosecutor is seeing stars due to Alesi's celebrity and is looking to make a name for him/her self? This wouldn't just be an American phenomenon. BHW
No idea. Might just be a journo trying to sell newspapers by showing maximum penalty for destruction of property, or something.
Journalism isn't exactly of a high standard anymore. What sells more? "F1 driver faces 10 years in prison" or "F1 driver may face a small fine after damaging a car with a fire cracker".
This may go beyond throwing fireworks "to have a laugh." The use of explosives has been mentioned; these days, that will get any prosecutor's attention.
Novel way of dealing with things. Didn't know this guy was that creative. Certainly one for the books.
I never understood why banable comments are deleted. How are you supposed to know where the line is if you can’t see the offending comment?
He didn't damage a car with a fire cracker. He put an explosive to the window of the house where the ex husband of his sister lives and it blew out including its shutters. That's a hell of a fire cracker. If somebody had been in that room at the time of the explosion, I'm sure the glass shrapnel would have severely wounded them. Alesi is a complete and utter idiot to have done this heinous act and to have drawn his son into it with him. I always held Alesi in high regards, a true gentleman growing his own wine and living on Lac Leman. What he did here is beyond belief and sounds like a totally different and deranged person. Sorry, if they throw the book at him for this (they won't), I'm all for it.
Maybe @william—defender of offended sensibilities, but only if it relates to HAM—can explain why he thinks the comment he “liked” was deemed racist by mod(s) and resulted in a ban for its author.
Jails are full here so he will just get a suspended sentence if any at all. You would not believe the offenses that get just that; a suspended sentence, as if real criminals gave a damn. Still rather a bizarre story but remember Nelson Piquet's nickname for him when they were friends in F1: "short fuse." He may have gotten annoyed at his in law and not realized how powerful the "petard" fire cracker was. These things can be readily bought for pest control and you can bet that a kid or two will lose a hand during new year's night.
