Gilles Bertin

Gilles Bertin (25 March 1961 – 7 November 2019) was a French musician and singer, and a member of the punk band Camera Silens from 1981 to 1986.[1][2][3]

Gilles Bertin
Born25 March 1961
Paris, France
Died7 November 2019(2019-11-07) (aged 58)
Barcelona, Spain
NationalityFrench
OccupationMusician
Singer

Biography

Born in Paris on 25 March 1961, Bertin moved to Bordeaux with his parents as a teenager. In Bordeaux, he founded the punk band Camera Silens as a bassist and a singer.[4] The band enjoyed significant success in the French punk rock scene.[5] After he became a drug addict and tested HIV positive, he fell into delinquency.[6][7][8]

On 27 April 1988, Bertin participated in a robbery on the Toulouse department of Brink's along with a dozen other robbers, after two years of preparation.[9] The group stole 11,571,316 francs, despite never firing a shot. To this day, most of the loot has never been found. After police launched "Operation Sangria", all participants of the robbery were arrested within two years, except for Bertin.[10] He fled to Spain, and then later, Portugal while running a record shop dedicated to alternative rock. In 1995, Bertin fell ill with AIDS, but survived thanks to tritherapy. In 2000, he returned to Barcelona and worked in a bar owned by his family while living under several identities.[11][12]

On 26 November 2016, Bertin returned to France to face justice.[13][14] His trial began on 6 June 2018, and he faced 20 years imprisonment.[15] However, Bertin was only sentenced to five years with suspension, after the prosecution cited "good conduct."[16][17]

In February 2019, Bertin published an autobiography, titled Trente ans de cavale, ma vie de punk with the publisher Éditions Robert Laffont.[18][19][20]

On 7 November 2019, Gilles Bertin succumbed to AIDS after spending several weeks in a coma.[21][22][23] He was 58.

References
  1. "Rencontre exclusive avec Gilles Bertin, chanteur du groupe Camera Silens". Infos Toulouse (in French). 6 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
  2. "Gilles Bertin, enfant du punk bordelais et ex-braqueur de la Brink's, est mort". SudOuest.fr (in French). 17 February 2019.
  3. "Gilles Bertin". JeSuisMort.com (in French).
  4. "Gilles Bertin, Punk pas Mort". Libération.fr (in French). 19 March 2019.
  5. "Camera Silens". Rock Made in France (in French). 2 October 2013.
  6. "Fin de cavale d'un punk qui voulait "vivre à fond"". Libération.fr (in French). 23 November 2016.
  7. "L'incroyable histoire du chanteur de Camera Silens retracée dans un documentaire audio". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). 8 January 2019.
  8. "Les années punk, drogue and Brink's". France Culture (in French). 5 January 2019.
  9. "Casse de la Brink's : Gilles Bertin condamné à cinq ans de sursis, trente ans après le braquage". Le Monde (in French). 6 June 2018.
  10. "Ces fugitifs célèbres : Gilles Bertin, un punk en cavale pendant 30 ans". Le Parisien (in French). 13 July 2019.
  11. "La cavale de Didier Ballet". France Culture (in French). 6 January 2019.
  12. "L'incroyable vie en cavale de Gilles Bertin, braqueur de la Brink's de Toulouse en 1988". Midi Libre (in French). 24 February 2019.
  13. "Cinq ans avec sursis pour Gilles Bertin, l'ex-braqueur revenu de cavale". Libération.fr (in French). 6 June 2018.
  14. "Casse de la Brink's à Toulouse : Gilles Bertin condamné à 5 ans de prison avec sursis". France 3 Occitanie (in French). 6 June 2018.
  15. "Gilles Bertin condamné à 5 ans de prison avec sursis". L'Express (in French). 6 June 2018.
  16. "L'ex-punk braqueur n'ira pas en prison". Le Parisien (in French). 6 June 2018.
  17. "Gilles Bertin, ex-punk bordelais et braqueur en cavale, échappe à la prison ferme". Rue89Bordeaux (in French). 8 June 2018.
  18. "Casse de la Brinks à Toulouse : "La musique aurait dû me sauver", confie Gilles Bertin". Le Parisien (in French). 17 February 2019.
  19. "Gilles Bertin, le braqueur punk". France Inter (in French). 15 April 2019.
  20. "" Trente ans de cavale, ma vie de punk " de Gilles Bertin". Rock Made in France (in French). 9 March 2019.
  21. "Bordeaux : décès de Gilles Bertin, musicien punk et braqueur repenti". SudOuest.fr (in French). 7 November 2019.
  22. "Mort de Gilles Bertin, braqueur repenti et punk des années 1980". Le Monde (in French). 8 November 2019.
  23. "Gilles Bertin, chanteur punk et auteur d'un braquage en 1988, est mort à Barcelone". franceinfo.fr (in French). 8 November 2019.
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