French Man Faces 8 Years for Nightclub Sexual Assault in Andorra

A 34-year-old French man of Algerian origin faces up to eight years in prison for serious sexual assault and minor intentional injuries after an incident in an Andorra la Vella nightclub bathroom on 27 October 2024. The three-day trial at the Tribunal de Corts concluded Thursday with final arguments, as prosecutors and the private accusation upheld demands of eight years and two months' imprisonment, a 10-year no-contact order, 20-year expulsion from Andorra, a 2,000-euro fine for injuries, and 20,000 euros in compensation. The defence sought full acquittal, citing consensual contact limited by the defendant's intoxication and erection difficulties.

The defendant, held in pre-trial detention for one year and three months, testified on the trial's opening day, appearing nervous and briefly halting proceedings over language issues. Initially telling investigators only manual contact occurred, he later admitted a "very short" oral sex act and "very brief" vaginal penetration, attributing brevity to heavy drinking—beer, wine, and rum—on his first Andorra visit for a friend's birthday. He described the victim approaching him, sharing her drink, dancing, then leading him by the arm to the bathroom without resistance, claims of stopping, or violence. No anal sex occurred, he said, and they parted with hugs and a kiss; he stayed in the club another hour until police arrived. The defence emphasised his French-only speech against her Spanish or Catalan, intoxication masking signals, no blood on his body, his choice not to flee, and personal strains including a hunger strike, bathroom phobia from detention, and worry for his wife and child in France. They also noted security footage timelines contradicting the victim's account, lack of bathroom blood traces, and her return to the venue on 6 December 2024.

The victim's December 2024 Batllia statement, played in court, detailed initial consent shifting to pain during anal sex, ignored pleas to stop up to four times, a mouth-covering during vaginal penetration as friends called from outside, heavy bleeding filling the one-by-two-metre space, and 30 minutes of shock before pushing him out. She and friends later confronted him as a "rapist," prompting security and police intervention.

Friends testified Tuesday to finding her crying and shocked at the bar amid loud music, with blood on her legs, hands, underwear, and intimate area despite her relative sobriety (blood alcohol at 2g/L, speech clear). They saw him at the bathroom mirror with bloodstained trousers, heard muffled pleas, and confronted him. She messaged that day about reducing nights out, later developing two-to-three-month gambling addiction, anxiety, and heavier drinking. Her father, emotional, described her shift to introversion, gambling, alcohol issues, and private therapy, thanking security, police, and institutions.

Police and forensic evidence Tuesday confirmed officers finding her shocked but coherent, consistently describing withdrawn consent despite initial reporting hesitation as she had initiated contact. Her thong and trousers were blood-soaked; his shirt, trousers, and underwear exterior showed stains despite the cleaned bathroom. He seemed intoxicated yet aware, giving shifting accounts—from no sex to mutual consent—and refusing DNA samples. The forensic doctor noted vaginal canal abrasion with skin tears, bleeding, and a clot from forceful entry, unlikely from non-erectile contact or typical menstruation, with no prior injuries. A gynaecologist found recent vaginal erosion and perineal blood unusual in consensual acts, ruling out menstrual causes and deeming non-erectile penetration improbable.

Thursday's experts detailed psychological effects: a psychiatrist diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder directly linked to the incident, with intrusive thoughts, emotional outbursts, dissociation, vulnerability, and delayed therapy—now in intermediate recovery after June sessions. A psychologist noted initial anxiety, depression, progress, and gambling as evasion.

Prosecutors highlighted the victim's consistent narrative across friends, security, police, experts, and court, plus objective evidence like abundant blood on clothing, open vaginal wounds from brusque penetration, and the defendant's contradictory statements. The defence stressed victim statement inconsistencies, no blood on his body or interior underwear, and his post-incident behaviour. The case now awaits sentencing.