A man was tried in correctional at the TGI of Caen, for manslaughter, Thursday May 28, 2020. The case dates back to January 8, 2017. He risks 3 years of suspended prison sentence.
–
Hunter for over 40 years, Marcel * pulls very little with his group of friends. He says it himself: “hunting was an outing, a little pleasure”.
Only this Sunday January 8, 2017 in the town of Detroit, near Cliff, thinking to aim at a boar, it’s François *, one of his hunting companions, whom he fatally touches.
Read also: Deconfinement. A new schedule for the 4 waste reception centers in the Pays de Falaise
Thursday May 28, 2020, he had to report to the Tribunal de grande instance of Caen.
Marcel, 66, was tried in corrections. He was accused of: manslaughter by manifest violation of an obligation of safety or prudence.
He thinks he’s shooting a boar
That day, the group decides to hunt wild boar, obviously with suitable ammunition. The field of operations is a field with a wood below.
I wasn’t used to big game, I was a little anxious, ”says Marcel.
Read also: The president of the Union Sportive en Pays de Falaise Régis Hie passes the baton to Jérôme Drouin
The group of eight people divides into two. Half as touts in the wood (which François is part of) the other half, higher up in the field, responsible for shooting the game when it comes into the open.
When Marcel spots a movement on the edge of the woods, he thinks he’s aiming for a wild boar, convinced that the beaters are lower, under the cover of the trees.
Read also: Municipal 2020. Gérard Kepa re-elected mayor in Potigny
François collapses, hit in the stomach. First transported to Falaise hospital then to Caen University Hospital, he could not be saved.
At 47, he leaves behind a wife and three children aged 16, 15 and 11 at the time.
“I screwed up a family »
His widow, in tears at the hearing, shows great dignity. She tells the story of mourning and the life after.
“I do my best to take on the role of a mom and dad. I hide to cry so that my children do not see me unhappy ”.
Read also: Coronavirus. The Pays de Falaise centralizes orders for masks for its inhabitants
She talks about financial difficulties “I sometimes have trouble paying for the canteen”.
Marcel, full of remorse, seems lost in this tribunal and weeps too.
I screwed up a family, I would have preferred it to be me ”.
The family lawyer requests a reference on civil interests because the stakes are high. It evokes the material damage, the damage of affection, and the suffering of the victim before dying.
“The worst punishment for him will be guilt”
It is a particularly dramatic case, notes the prosecutor Gauthier Poupeau, there was obviously imprudence and it is, in my opinion, an offense ”.
He recalls that among the safety rules, it is forbidden to shoot outside an angle of 30 degrees.
“Yet that’s what he did. No matter how hard it is, she will never live up to this family’s pain. On the other hand, there is a pain that this man will bear forever, and that is guilt ”. 3 years suspended prison sentence are required.
Read also: Municipal 2020. The 2nd round in Falaise will take place on Sunday June 28
Maître Marand Gombar, the defense lawyer, agrees with these requisitions as well as with the civil party.
It is an indisputable human drama. The man who is responsible for it is however far from being a meaty man. For him, the interest of hunting was above all to be with friends. Since then, he no longer hunt. He lives withdrawn into himself in a mixture of remorse and shame ». He still issues a caveat as to the quantum, which he considers exaggerated.
The deliberation will be delivered on Thursday, June 18, 2020.
* Marcel and François, loan names.
–
