French Apple iPhone, iMac bludgeoner given six-month suspended jail sentence, fined
The man who smashed at least 17 demo stations at the Dijon, France Apple store on Sept. 29 had his day in court, and in addition to a six-month suspended jail sentence, he must pay Apple 17,548 euros for the damage -- far short of the company's own estimate.
At his sentencing hearing, Le Figaro reports that the assailant claimed to be in "in a monster state of anger" over Apple's refusal to refund him for what he called a defective iPhone. Specifics of the man's service claims beyond his declaration that the phone was not damaged by him are still not known.
The judge sentenced the man to a six-month suspended jail sentence, a two-year probationary period where he is barred from the mall, and must repay Apple ?17,548 ($19,186) while on probation.
Apple estimated the damage to the store and equipment was closer to ?60,000 ($65,600). The judge declined to award that amount, as the equipment was judged to be for display and not resale, and the police had claimed to not have had sufficient time to inspect the destroyed gear prior to the display's replacement by Apple.
Wearing Apple earbuds the whole time, on Sept. 29 an unnamed customer took a steel ball used in French game Petanque (similar to Bocce), and destroyed 12 iPhones, four iMac displays, and a MacBook Air on video -- but the rampage had started before the video capture had begun.
At his sentencing hearing, Le Figaro reports that the assailant claimed to be in "in a monster state of anger" over Apple's refusal to refund him for what he called a defective iPhone. Specifics of the man's service claims beyond his declaration that the phone was not damaged by him are still not known.
The judge sentenced the man to a six-month suspended jail sentence, a two-year probationary period where he is barred from the mall, and must repay Apple ?17,548 ($19,186) while on probation.
Apple estimated the damage to the store and equipment was closer to ?60,000 ($65,600). The judge declined to award that amount, as the equipment was judged to be for display and not resale, and the police had claimed to not have had sufficient time to inspect the destroyed gear prior to the display's replacement by Apple.
Wearing Apple earbuds the whole time, on Sept. 29 an unnamed customer took a steel ball used in French game Petanque (similar to Bocce), and destroyed 12 iPhones, four iMac displays, and a MacBook Air on video -- but the rampage had started before the video capture had begun.
Comments
also the funny part is according to French media that the phone was purchased at a French service provider store such as ATT. So as per law the seller is responsible for the coverage and has to then de with apple for the details, not Apple straight with the customer...
Sadly here in the States the little snowflake would have gotten his new phone then sued Apple for mental anguish. The judge would have then sided with him and fined Apple for causing mental anguish.
Even on this site, which is presumably read by people with a certain education, people are asking for this guy to be put in jail for six months and to award ridiculously inflated sums to Apple.
The reality is, the guy destroyed a few gadgets and has to repay Apple the replacement value. That is absolutely adequate: if you go and break your neighbour's windows, you pay him the replacement cost. It is inappropriate to ask him to refund the retail costs, because iPhones are not a finite product, i.e. Apple does not lose the sale of these phones, they can just get new ones to sell with the money this guy will give them. He did not impact the ability of Apple to sell even a single phone.
And jail? Really, for simple property destruction, where the damage to the victim is 0.003% of the "victim's" daily revenue, and the property is a commodity item? That is the equivalent of 1 penny for someone that earns $ 150,000. 1 penny is the value of the dirt under your shoes. Furthermore, the guy apparently did not even mean to cause harm, as he stayed behind, presumably to be caught and repay the damage. The smallness of this "crime" can barely be put in words: it's like egging someone's house, or TP'ing their trees, or kick their tires, or charging your phone at your friend's house.
Now, a crime is a crime, no matter how little the victim was hurt, so on top of refunding the company, he should be punished. And he did: 6 months suspended. seems totally appropriate; maybe even a bit too strict and only given to deter copycats.