Cherbourg court jails man 5 months for cannabis driving without licence
A Cherbourg-en-Cotentin court sentenced a 29-year-old man in his absence to five months of firm prison for driving without a licence while positive for cannabis. Police had stopped him in Cherbourg on 11 March 2024, and his record held 34 road and drug entries.
On 3 November the Cherbourg-en-Cotentin court tried a 29-year-old man in his
absence for driving without a licence and while positive for drugs.[1]He was
under curatelle, a court-appointed guardianship, and was in prison at the time
of the hearing.[1]He refused to appear by video link.[1]
On 11 March 2024 police stopped him at the wheel in Cherbourg, where he had no
licence, and his saliva test was positive for cannabis.[1]His criminal record
held 34 entries for road offences and drug use.[1]His lawyer told the court
he has bipolar disorder and had bought the car on 10 March 2024, the day before
the stop.[1]She said he had left detention in November 2023 and had been back
in prison since April 2024, and that his disorder led to repeated offences.[1]
The prosecutor called the record damning and sought six months of firm prison.[1]The court sentenced him to five months of firm prison.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
No second account of this sentencing could be opened; only La Manche Libre was found.
The name Gaëtan Jacques appears only at the end of the paragraph reporting the defence lawyer's remarks, so the link to the 29-year-old defendant rests on position in the text; the report does not name him directly and no name is used in the report.
No cannabis quantity, fine or other payment was published, so no kilograms, plants or fine figure can be recorded.
The prosecutor sought six months of firm prison while the court imposed five months; the request is not a sentence.
3 November 2026 is the hearing and sentencing date; 5 November 2026 is the article publication date.
The article labels the offence as reoffending (récidive) but reports only the number of prior record entries, not the specific prior convictions that establish that status.
A 28-year-old driver tested positive for cannabis after rear-ending a car and injuring its driver at Percy-en-Normandie on 2 January 2026. The Coutances court sentenced him on 10 November 2026 to six months suspended imprisonment and cancelled his driving licence.
The criminal court in Troyes sentenced 47-year-old Ramzi Nefzaoui to 14 months in firm prison for drug trafficking and issued an arrest warrant. The case began when gendarmes stopped his Renault Laguna at Barberey-Saint-Sulpice in December 2025 and found cannabis resin, herb, cash and a scale.
The Fontainebleau criminal court sentenced a driver to five years in prison, including two years firm, over a fatal 2021 crash at Souppes-sur-Loing in which his 20-year-old passenger died. The court heard he had drunk alcohol and smoked cannabis and was driving at 135 km/h in a 30 km/h zone.
Anti-crime police in Passamaïnty, Mayotte, broke up a drug deal on 4 November 2026 and seized 3.334 kg of cannabis and 8,495 euros in cash from a suspected stash flat; three people were arrested. Two young men were tried in Mamoudzou on 9 November and sentenced to 30 months with 12 suspended and a 15-month suspended term.