Death of Andy Selmour at Melrose Prison - His Mother Annick: "I still wonder if he had listened to me..."

Yesterday, Annick attended the funeral of her son, Andy Selmour, who was beaten to death at Melrose Prison. Devastated, she is calling for justice and expresses her disbelief over this senseless tragedy.

On the afternoon of December 13th, Annick, 48, attended the funeral of her eldest son, Andy Selmour, aged 33, who was fatally beaten at the high-security Melrose Prison on December 9th. Back from abroad, this grieving mother is overwhelmed with sorrow and filled with regrets. "He was my child, I raised him for nine months, I took him from the hospital, I brought him up," she says, her voice breaking.

Many gathered at the deceased's home to pay their last respects. Family and friends, wearing T-shirts bearing his image, are inconsolable over this tragic loss.

Around 2 PM, the funeral procession made its way to Roche-Bois Church for the service. Andy Selmour's family and friends could not hold back their tears, driven by a deep sense of outrage. "He was like a brother to me. We came to pay him our last homage. Look at how his family is suffering. He still had time to live," said a cousin of the victim.

She demands justice. "We will fight to get justice for Andy. You all are sleeping well. We will march day and night... not a single person will escape this," she declares, amid tears and anger.

Two other cousins of Andy do not hide their indignation. "He did not deserve to die like this. Our hearts are suffering. He is not alone; he has a family. We want justice for Andy. We will not accept this," they thunder.

Deeply saddened, Annick cannot comprehend how this could happen in a so-called high-security prison. "How could they let him get beaten like that? I am still waiting for answers. Where were the prison guards at that time? For someone to be beaten to death, where were the guards? I want to see the video footage to assure myself of what happened that day," she insists.

Memories overwhelm her. Andy was passionate about wrestling, Annick recalls. "He was a champion wrestler; he went to compete in Réunion," she confides to Dimanche/L’Hebdo. But over time, this father of two fell into the depths of drug addiction and delinquency, accumulating run-ins with the police for theft. His mother deeply regrets this: "He was a drug addict; nobody is perfect on this earth. I did not make him this way, but he became this way. I did everything I could to put him on the right path, but circumstances turned out this way."

Annick claims she repeatedly encouraged her eldest son to turn his life around. She pleaded with him. "I told him, 'Andy, stop, change your life, you have children,' I told him until I was tired of saying it," Annick says, her voice trembling.

And Andy had eventually heard her. He even expressed his intention to start anew. "I told him, 'It's all in your hands,' because I did everything I could for him."

Today, Annick finds it hard to accept that she lost her son under such circumstances. "I still wonder if he had listened to me, this wouldn't have happened." This phrase resonates as a regret that will never fade.

Today, Annick demands justice. Not to erase the pain. Not to bring back her son. But to know. To understand. So that someone is held accountable for this senseless death. This Saturday afternoon, looking at her eldest son's coffin, Annick bears two burdens: that of having lost her child and that of wondering if she could have prevented it.