Pascal Payet

Case record: Pascal Payet

Background

Pascal Payet was born 7 July 1963. He was a French criminal.

Payet spent his childhood in Lyon before settling in Marseille. He was married and had two children.

He gained notoriety for prison escapes using helicopters. He was classified as a “détenu particulièrement surveillé,” or a prisoner under especially high surveillance, and was placed in solitary confinement.

The offence

On November 20, 1997, Payet participated in an attack on a Banque de France armored car in Salon-de-Provence. Someone was killed during the attack.

Payet was serving a 30-year prison sentence for killing a guard during the holdup of an armored car.

In connection with his evasion of custody, he was later sentenced for a series of armed robberies and assaults against police officers.

Investigation

After his 2007 helicopter escape, a European arrest warrant was issued against him two days later.

Justice Minister Rachida Dati went to Grasse prison on Sunday and an official said she ordered an investigation into the escape as well as a prison security audit.

Christophe Marques, secretary general of the prison staff union, said the breakout showed there was an increasing danger of attacks from outside prisons and that the minister and prison staff needed to discuss the resources needed to counter such commando operations.

Arrest

Payet was captured on September 21, 2007 in the town of Mataró, a suburb north of Barcelona in Spain.

On October 4, 2007, Payet was transferred to French custody along with two accomplices who had been captured with him: Alain Armato and Farid Ouassou.

He was then imprisoned in a location which has been kept secret for “security reasons.”

Timeline

• November 20, 1997 — Payet participated in an attack on a Banque de France armored car in Salon-de-Provence during which someone was killed.
• January 1999 — Payet was arrested along with Éric Alboreo in Paris.
• October 12, 2001 — Payet escaped from a prison in the village of Luynes in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône on board a hijacked helicopter with Frédéric Impocco.
• October 18, 2001 — Impocco was captured and brought in for questioning in Paris.
• April 14, 2003 — Payet organized another helicopter escape from the Luynes prison, freeing Franck Perletto, Michel Valero, and Éric Alboreo.
• January 2005 — Payet was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder in connection with the 1997 armored car hijacking in Salon-de-Provence.
• May 2006 — The 30-year sentence was upheld following an appeal by the cour d’assises of Var.
• December 2005 — Payet published an open letter on his blog entitled “The Saga of My Transfers” (French: “L'épopée de mes transferts”) criticizing the conditions of his imprisonment.
• January 2007 — Payet confessed to organizing the 2003 escape and was sentenced to an additional seven years in prison; his co-conspirators were each sentenced to three. He was also sentenced to another six years for his own escape in 2001.
• July 14, 2007 — Four masked men hijacked a helicopter from Cannes – Mandelieu Airport to free Payet from solitary confinement in a prison in Grasse.
• Two days after July 14, 2007 — A European arrest warrant was issued against Payet.
• September 21, 2007 — Payet was captured in Mataró, a suburb north of Barcelona in Spain.
• October 4, 2007 — Payet was transferred to French custody along with Alain Armato and Farid Ouassou.
• June 25, 2008 — The cour d’assises of the Alpes-Maritimes department sentenced Payet to 15 years in prison with no chance of early release for armed robberies and assaults against police officers while he evaded custody.
• April 8, 2011 — The cour d’assises of Bouches-du-Rhône sentenced Payet to an additional five years of prison for his 2007 escape; his three accomplices were sentenced to nine, seven and six years.

Arrest and escape events (detailed)

Payet was arrested along with Éric Alboreo in Paris in January 1999.

On October 12, 2001, Payet escaped from a prison in the village of Luynes in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône on board a hijacked helicopter with Frédéric Impocco.

On April 14, 2003, Payet organized another helicopter escape from the Luynes prison, this time of Franck Perletto, Michel Valero, and Éric Alboreo, who had been arrested with him in 1999. They were caught three weeks later.

On July 14, 2007, taking advantage of Bastille Day celebrations, four masked men hijacked a helicopter from Cannes – Mandelieu Airport. They used it to free Payet from his solitary confinement in a prison in Grasse. The helicopter landed some time later at Brignoles, 38 kilometres north-east of Toulon, France on the Mediterranean coast. Payet and his accomplices then fled the scene and the pilot was released unharmed.

A Reuters report described the breakout as taking only five minutes and said the breakout was carried out by four masked men who hijacked a helicopter at nearby Cannes and took the pilot hostage. The report said they landed on the prison roof at the start of the night shift and used heavy machinery to break open two doors and enter the isolation ward where Mr. Payet was held. It included the following quotations:

“The operation took only five minutes,” Mr. Barate said. “The layout of the site did not allow the guards in the tower to shoot at the helicopter or the men.”

The Reuters report also said prison staff members were not told about the hijacking of the helicopter on Saturday and so did not increase security.

Trial and sentencing

In January 2005, Payet was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder in connection with the 1997 armored car hijacking in Salon-de-Provence.

This sentence was upheld in May 2006 following an appeal by the cour d’assises of Var.

In January 2007, Payet confessed to organizing the 2003 escape and was sentenced to an additional seven years in prison, while his co-conspirators were each sentenced to three.

On June 25, 2008, the cour d’assises of the Alpes-Maritimes department sentenced him to 15 years in prison with no chance of early release for a series of armed robberies and assaults against police officers while he evaded custody.

On April 8, 2011, the cour d’assises of Bouches-du-Rhône sentenced him to an additional five years of prison for his 2007 escape. His three accomplices were sentenced to nine, seven and six years. Some other prisoners judged complicit in the escape were given lesser sentences.

Appeals

Payet’s 30-year sentence was upheld in May 2006 following an appeal by the cour d’assises of Var.

Other details

Payet had been moved from one prison to another almost every three months because of his escape record.

Before the open letter in December 2005, he had gone on a hunger strike at a prison in Metz in protest against having been transferred nine times in 30 months.

By July 2007, Payet was one of the most closely surveilled prisoners in France, and was never kept at the same prison for more than six months.

He escaped from Luynes prison by helicopter in 2001 and flew himself there to free three friends in 2003.

Éric Alboreo was one of the people Payet was arrested with in January 1999 and also one of the people freed in the 2003 helicopter escape.

Alain Armato and Farid Ouassou were captured with Payet and were transferred to French custody on October 4, 2007.