An affair gone sour end up in Monaco's courthouse

A Monegasque man has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence and fined €500 for harassment and wilful damage to his former mistress’ vehicle.

“It’s a fine line between love and hate.” This is how Maître Zampori summed up the situation as she defended her client. Charged with harassment and wilful damage, the accused saw his defence challenged at his trial on 4 June 2024.

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The two former lovers met in 2022 at their workplace at the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM). He lives in Monaco and is a supervisor, she lives in Menton and works as a waitress.

According to his lawyer, the man’s family situation is complicated. Married and with a daughter who suffers from health issues, he entered into an extramarital liaison as an escape from the “malaise” in his “troubled family,” his lawyer explained.

The beginning of the end

According to the defence, the situation took a turn for the worse in January 2023 when the defendant overheard a telephone conversation between his mistress at the time, and another man. From then on, his behaviour changed completely and the harassment began.

The defendant insisted that he wanted to put an end to the affair and “get her off his back.” However, in February and March 2023, messages were exchanged between the two former lovers, in which he wrote: “I’m still checking to see if you’re out,” leading the judge to believe that he was following her, or at least keeping tabs on her. He also wrote that he wanted to spend his life and have a child with her.

Then the messages became violent and offensive: “you’re a wh*re, you like to be f*cked like a b*tch,” “all you deserve is to be spat at in the face,” “getting f*cked is all you’re good for.”

“Your job is hanging by a thread,” “you should start looking for a job outside of Monaco.” The abuse shifted from the personal side to the work domain. Through these threats, the Monegasque intended to use his position to have her dismissed from her job at SBM. He even threatened to give her car licence plate to the police, to put pressure on her over unpaid fines.

From threats to actions

The harassment came to a head at the beginning of March when the victim’s car was damaged. Keys were used to scratch the rear door. Beforehand, the defendant’s messages left little doubt as to his intentions: “I know where you live,” “I know where your car’s parked.”

However, despite the manifest threats, the accused denied everything. Unluckily for the Monegasque, surveillance cameras show him prowling around the car and kicking the boot, on the day the damage was done. He claimed a jumper of great sentimental value and that belonged to him was in the back of the car.

The victim, traumatised by the harassment, had to see a doctor and was signed off work for two days.

The same old story…

The many testimonials of good character provided by the defendant’s lawyer did little to help his case. Given the overwhelming evidence, the judges found him guilty and sentenced him to a 6-month suspended prison sentence and a €500 fine for the damage to the victim’s vehicle.

However, as is often the case in this type of affair, the injured party is the victim twice over, as she no longer works at SBM, while the guilty party still has his job there.