Carcassonne. He had trapped his garden gate with a grenade, three children injured

It was under gendarmerie escort that Richard, a soldier of the foreign legion of the 4th RE of Castelnaudary, appeared before the Carcassonne court yesterday. A native of Nantes, this 44-year-old man was accused of having trapped the gate of his garden with a training grenade, in order to avoid unwanted intrusions on his land. The consequences were injuries inflicted on three children aged 8, 10 and 13, who had the misfortune of triggering the device in place. This story, with consequences that could have been much more dramatic, dates back to Saturday March 23 in Fanjeaux (Lauragais). That day, the three children had first managed to pass through the gate without touching the wire connected to the grenade, and had been able to play in the garden as they were sometimes used to. We are on the edge of a hiking trail, where there are lots of vegetable gardens… It was then when we were leaving that one of the children slipped and his foot got caught in the wire, triggering a first explosion, then a second. The explosions were so powerful that they caused temporary hearing difficulties in children. “My son had already passed through the gate when there was the first detonation. He was not physically injured, but there was a strong psychological impact”, declared a father present at the hearing. At his side, another dad testifies on the stand: “It was my son who triggered the trapped system. He had trauma to his ear which lasted a week, but he has a fear every day when he passes by the gentleman’s house. There were other means to avoid this.” Same fear mentioned by the mother of one of the young victims: “He’s afraid to meet him…”

Straight in his sneakers, the defendant admitted the facts in court, explaining that he had noticed break-ins on his land on the Sunday preceding the facts: “The links of the gate had been cut with a knife and the canvas of the trampoline had been torn. There was also a fire, just before… I thought there was a prowler, and I was afraid that my children would (he has nine, Editor’s note) have a bad encounter. I understand my fault, but in no way did I want to inflict injury. My goal was to scare this person. I made a big mistake, I apologize.” Three days of ITT were issued to two of the three children following the detonations of this plaster grenade, used by the military for their training. In this regard, the legion did not file a complaint for the theft of the grenade. At the prosecution, prosecutor Lisa Kratz reminded the defendant that “When you wear a uniform, you have to be exemplary.” The eight-month suspended prison sentence was thus requested, as well as a ban on possessing a weapon for five years. For the defense, Me Hélène Simon-Grassa (Toulouse bar) argued on the personality of her client “who has already been sanctioned internally with thirty days of arrest. These are isolated facts in view of his exceptional career.” At the end of its deliberations, the court finally sentenced the defendant to six months in prison. In addition, he will have to pay €500 for the moral damage of each of the young victims.