In the legal battle that has pitted him against his father’s partner for several years, the only son and guardian of perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain has just won an important victory. The Versailles Court of Appeal declared, in a judgment delivered on Thursday January 12, Kirsten Kragh Michelsen, known as Christina, guilty of moral harassment of a former domestic employee and of intentional violence against a vulnerable person, in this case Jean- Paul Guerlain, 86 years old and suffering from senile dementia. The Franco-Danoise, twenty-two years her junior and who lives in the property of the perfumer, was sentenced to four months in prison suspended, and to pay 3,000 euros in damages to Stéphane Guerlain, and 2,000 euros to Faouzia M., the domestic worker recognized as the victim of harassment.
Mr.’s lawyerme Kragh Michelsen, M.e Frédéric Bélot, denounces “a very hard stop” and let it be known that he has appealed. For his part, M.e Pascal Koerfer, lawyer for Guerlain’s son, shares his “satisfaction that things are a little recognized. It is important because for ten years Stéphane Guerlain has suffered the excesses of this lady (…). I hope it will bring some peace of mind for the end of Mr. Guerlain’s life. »
For a decade, in the heart of his imposing property in Mesnuls, a wealthy town in Yvelines on the edge of the Rambouillet forest, the existence of Jean-Paul Guerlain has nothing to envy. In 2013, as the perfumer’s mental health declined, the courts decided on a reinforced curatorship measure. His son was appointed curator for a period of sixty months. In January 2018, Stéphane Guerlain became guardian of his father, a measure “essential, considering the importance of its movable and real estate heritage”then considers justice.
“Intentional Abuse”
Above all, for about ten years Jean-Paul Guerlain has witnessed, helpless and sometimes unconscious, the conflict between his partner and his son. Christina Kragh Michelsen’s lawyers filed, in March 2020, a marriage file at the town hall of Les Mesnuls. Stéphane Guerlain, as tutor, opposed it and won his case. At the same time, companion and son accuse each other of all evils, including that of not caring about the well-being of the old man. Legal complaints are coming from each side, often to no avail. In June 2022, Stéphane Guerlain was tried, in his absence, for insults, death threats, intentional violence and moral harassment. He was released.
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