'Puppet Master' to face trial for running over gendarme in France

The conman dubbed 'The Puppet Master' in a Netflix documentary of his crimes in the UK, is to face trial on Thursday for running over and injuring gendarmes investigating what he was up to in France.

David Hendy, who is also known as Robert Hendy-Freegard, originally faced accusations of attempted murder after the incident at an illegal puppy farm in the commune of Vidiallat in Creuse department.

Read more: Netflix Puppet Master’s flight from French police to be reconstructed

But at a hearing in Limoges in December, the judges decided that a new law protecting law officers and other people holding public office was better suited to the case.

Judges in the Tribunal judiciaire de Gueret will consider his guilt in a case based on a law modified in March 2024, for the offence of 'violence su un militaire de la Gendarmerie Nationale, suivi d’incapacite superieure a 8 jours, aggravee par un circonstance'.

The modification was made after a string of high profile accidents where law officers attempting to stop cars were run over.

A sentence of 10 years in prison and €150,000 fine is associated with the new law, but the maximum sentence in the law books is seldom imposed by judges in France.

If the attempted murder law had been applied, he could have faced a 30 year maximum sentence.

Conman held in prison for over two years

Hendy has been in Limoges prison since 20 October 2022.

French prisoners who have not run against prison officers are let out of jail after half of their sentences, so there is a possibility that any sentence on Thursday will be crafted so he walks free, as soon as prison formalities are completed, usually the next day. 

In theory he will have to complete the remaining half of his sentence under probation, probably wearing an electronic bracelet.

But because he is British it is more likely that he will be expelled from France, back to the UK.

The gendarmes, one of whom had his nose broken and was carried for 100 metres on the bonnet of Hendy’s car as he raced away, were investigating the puppy farm where Hendy lived with a woman called Sandra Clifton.

Her family in the UK were convinced she was being held there under his influence.

Ms Clifton was one of the victims named in the Netflix documentary where it was said that Hendy preyed on vulnerable women, gaining their trust with fanciful stories that he was a spy tracked by secret services, before moving in with them and emptying their savings accounts.

He was jailed for life in 2005 in the UK, after facing charges including kidnapping and deception, but released in 2009 after a successful appeal.

Read more: French case is Puppet Master’s undoing, says writer tracking UK conman

More victims in France possible

It is not known when he first moved to France, but he and Ms Clifton had been living in Vidiallat (Creuse), with very few interactions with locals, for seven years at the time of the incident.

After escaping from Vidiallat, Hendy drove to Belgium, where he was arrested on the motorway and spent a month in custody before being extradited to Limoges prison.

People in the village of Vidiallat told media after the arrest that they had been disturbed by the noise of the puppy farm, the conditions dogs appeared to be kept in, and that they were also concerned about Ms Clifton, who seldom showed herself in the village or to anyone who called at the farm.

The mayor of the village Martine Laporte told The Connexion in 2023, that Hendy did not speak French, and she had only met him twice during the seven years.

 Read more: ‘Puppet Master’ may have more victims living in isolation in France

Ms Laporte said villagers were so concerned about the “isolation” of Ms Clifton that they triggered an investigation, which led to a departmental social worker specializing in womens’ rights, visiting the puppy farm.

The mayor also feared that Hendy might have some influence over other women living in isolation in France – as time went by he seemed to spend less time at the puppy farm than before, but would appear in the village after 75 minutes, if people tried to talk to Ms Clifton.

As a result Ms Laporte also notified an association helping vulnerable woman, and they opened a file on Ms Clifton’s case.

It is not clear if this, or something else, prompted the visit by gendarmes on the day of the incident.

Ms Clifton is believed to be living in the UK at the moment.