A COURT IN France has jailed three young men for the maximum sentences allowed after convicting them of the murder and torture of three elderly people in 2017.

The court in the central region of Allier found the two men, now aged 20 and 21, guilty of the murder “accompanied by acts of torture and barbarity” of Ginette and Massimo Degl’Innocenti (85) and (71) and Jeannine Ponce (74) in March 2017 in the central town of Montlucon.

The Degl’Innocentis were found dead in their apartment on 3 March 2017. Massimo was lying in a pool of blood while his wife, who was recovering from a stroke, was found dead in her bed.

A few days later Ponce was also found in a pool of blood in her home. One of the suspects was given a life sentence and the other 30 years in jail – in his case the maximum allowed as he was a minor at the time of the attacks.

They were also convicted of the gang rape of a young woman in front of her partner on the night of Ponce’s murder. 

The accused had pleaded guilty to the charges and said they were drunk and under the influence of drugs. The assailants claimed that their aim was to steal money from the three old people, but only a small amount of money was taken during the incident. 

- © AFP 2019