This article written in french by GenevièveQuessy was automatically translated using ChatGPT
One of the three individuals arrested in March 2023 for brandishing a firearm and spraying their victims with cayenne pepper in a Pont-Viau motel was back at the Laval courthouse on Thursday, September 12.
Andrée-Anne Sauriol, along with her accomplices Marc-André Watier and Nicolas Girard, was arrested on March 11, 2023, around 2:30 a.m., after a violent altercation broke out between several individuals in a Pont-Viau motel in Laval.
The three accused admitted to kicking in the motel door. They sprayed their victims with cayenne pepper while threatening them with a firearm. They then fled in a car.
Laval police quickly traced the fleeing vehicle and arrested the suspects. A pistol with several rounds of ammunition and a high-capacity magazine were found in the vehicle.
Marc-André Watier, found guilty of assault and firearm possession, was sentenced to 46 months in prison on July 3, while Nicolas Girard and Andrée-Anne Sauriol awaited their sentences.
Sentencing submissions took place on Thursday, July 12, at the Laval courthouse for Andrée-Anne Sauriol, a 30-year-old resident of Mascouche.
Defense lawyer Me Anthony El Haddad, recalling the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and the aftermath of a physical attack his client had experienced in the past, aimed to demonstrate the state of mind that led her to use medication, drugs, and alcohol, and to hire people to take revenge on an ex-acquaintance who had attacked and injured her foot.
“We cannot consider Ms. Sauriol as an innocent victim,” countered prosecutor Me Philippe Lamoureux. “Ms. Sauriol, you displayed the weapon on social media three weeks prior, so you were in possession of this weapon, and you say you contacted these people to ‘corner’ your ex-acquaintance. What did you mean by ‘corner’?”
“I was thirsting for revenge, but my ultimate goal was to deliver him bound hand and foot to the police. The weapon was to show off, to scare,” murmured Andrée-Anne Sauriol, who since the start of the trial had claimed not to know where the weapon came from and had just expressed regret for following the men with whom she was arrested and getting into their car.
While the Crown is seeking a severe sentence of 5 years in prison, the defense suggests 24 months to be served in the community. Judge Maria Albanese wished to deliberate on the case. She will deliver the sentence on Thursday, October 24.
