Donnarumma home-jacking trial: main defendant violently insults police in court

The trial for Gianluigi Donnarumma’s home-jacking began Thursday before the 16th correctional chamber of the Paris judicial court, and quickly deteriorated when one of the accused violently attacked the police officers present in the courtroom.

Three men are being tried in this case: an executor and two alleged masterminds who, at the time of the facts, were detained at Villepinte prison in Seine-Saint-Denis. The facts date back to the night of July 20-21, 2023, when burglars broke into the apartment of the goalkeeper of the Squadra Azzurra, then a PSG player, at 16 avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Donnarumma was kidnapped and his partner, Alessia Elefante, was assaulted. Pregnant at the time, she suffered a miscarriage in the weeks that followed.

At the opening of the hearing, Ilyas Kherbouch, 21, nicknamed “Ganito” and presented as the mastermind of the operation, was stopped by police as he was conversing without authorization with one of his brothers who came to attend the trial. His reaction was immediate and explosive: he unleashed a barrage of insults at the police officers who intervened, threatening and defying them repeatedly.

The defense then requested a closed hearing, a request rejected by the court president, who attempted to bring the defendant to reason. “It is desirable that you attend your trial. I am giving you a solemn warning. These insults are inadmissible,” she told him. Kherbouch replied that he did not care and did not wish to attend his trial.

The hearing is to continue on Friday. The three men, adults at the time of the facts, are being prosecuted for aggravated theft, short-term kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. Suspected of reoffending, they face up to twenty years in prison.