A former prison warder who guarded the Monster of Avignon while he was in custody is the latest man to give evidence in the shocking rape trial.
Quentin Hennebert, 34, was working at the jail where Dominique Pelicot, 71, was held after he was arrested in 2020 for upskirting, before then quitting and becoming an ambulance driver.
Pelicot is accused of drugging his ex wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a decade long period of hell in a case that has made headlines around the world.
Earlier this week she bravely took the stand and waived her anonymity to give her support to other rape victims telling them:’ We don’t need to feel ashamed, it’s them who should be ashamed.’
Hennebert told the court in Avignon he had joined the swinging site Coco.fr – where Pelicot recruited men to abused Mrs Pelicot – to ‘sell ecstasy and MDMA’ adding:‘I’m not proud of myself.’
Earlier this week Gisele Pelicot bravely took the stand and waived her anonymity to give her support to other rape victims telling them:’ We don’t need to feel ashamed, it’s them who should be ashamed
Quentin Hennebert told the court in Avignon he had joined the swinging site Coco.fr – where Dominque Pelicot recruited men to abuse his wife
Dominque Pelicot (pictured) is accused of drugging his ex wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a decade long period of hell
He said:’I bought the drugs for 300 Euro and could sell them on for three or four times the price.’
The court heard how Hennebert had visited the Pelicot family home in the village of Mazan in November 2019 while he was working at the prison and ten months before Pelicot was arrested.
He said:’In my job I get to see judicial papers, investigative stuff from the police and I saw Pelicot’s name come up.
‘I made the connection with what had happened, and I thought sooner or later the police would come to my door. I haven’t really been at peace since I saw the name.’
At this point the prosecutor interrupted and asked:’So you were at peace when you left the Pelicot home?’
Hennebert who has admitted rape, replied: ‘When I got into my car afterwards, I realised I had made a big mistake, and I just wanted to wipe it from my memory.’
Mrs Pelicot’s lawyer, Stephane Barbonneau, said:’She is an exceptional woman and we heard from her just how determined she is to make her story heard
A court sketch of Mrs Pelicot at the courthouse of Avignon, during the trial of her former partner accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan
Before the trial Mrs Pelicot’s lawyer, Stephane Barbonneau, said:’She is an exceptional woman and we heard from her just how determined she is to make her story heard.
‘Every day of this trial we see just how deep a problem there is with society and what she wants to do is make sure that all victims are not forgotten.
‘She doesn’t expect anything from the individuals on trial and she cannot accept their excuses.’
He added that the line of defence from some of the accused that it was ‘accidental rape’ was ‘inaudible to society.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
