Videos of the dramatic accident are being shown in the courtroom of the Bergerac court on Thursday, June 27. In the dock, the 25-year-old man, surrounded by three police officers, turns his head towards the screen. He can be seen, on Monday, June 24, driving an Audi that does not belong to him on the national road 21 in Campsegret, in Dordogne. A few seconds before the head-on collision, he asked the passenger, the owner of the car, to film him “to show that he is doing a trick”, “test the automatic gearbox” et “share it on SnapChat”a social network, admits the young man in court.
A video for Snapchat
In the video, the resident of Périgueux listens to very loud music, so much so that it resonates in the courtroom. He shakes his head, holds the steering wheel with one hand and jerks the wheel. “All this to be smart, all this for a video… It’s so stupid that I have no words…” sighs the president. Because when the driver loses control of the vehicle, he hits a car coming the other way head-on. Inside, 81-year-old British woman dies and his daughter seriously injured. The passenger in the Audi was also injured. Both have 45 days of ITT.
0.97 grams of alcohol and cannabis
Even after the accident, the driver is filmed one last time for a few seconds. Next to him, we see the injured passenger. “Why are you driving? Why are you filming afterwards?”asks the president. The young man lowers his head and does not answer. “Do you think it’s because you were drinking and taking drugs?” the judge relaunches.
The night before, the young man smoked cannabis and drank a lot of alcohol, including vodka, in a party that lasted until the morning. At noon the next day, his tests showed that he still had 0.97 grams of alcohol per liter of blood. In addition to these aggravating circumstances, he never had a driving license.
“Why are you putting yourself in this state? Is your life difficult right now? », asks the judge. The man begins to cry at the mention of his mother’s death when he was two years old. Behind him, in the court, his father also puts his head in his hands then leaves the room. The young man was psychiatric follow-uphad treatment but stopped taking it for “avoid side effects”. The young man wipes his tears again with his t-shirt. “ I’m really sorry, I can never forgive myself.”he said.
” Manslaughter ” ?
Tears again as the lawyer for the victim’s daughter speaks. “She saw her mother die next to her,” she recalls. This woman, childless and single, “only had his mother”The woman of English origin is still in hospital and is extremely shocked said the lawyer before emphasizing: “She herself only survives because her steering wheel is on the right.”.
This drama could have “to happen to everyone”, believes the Prosecutor. The national 21 between Bergerac and Périgueux is very busy. Charles Charollois requires six years in prison and assumes this heavy sentence. “It is involuntary manslaughter but with an element of intentionality. When there are so many aggravating circumstances, we are crossing a threshold », insists the one who says he has never seen that in Bergerac.
Five years in prison including four years in prison
A law is also being drafted on the transition from the term “manslaughter” to “road homicide”, a rather symbolic law that will not change the sentences. But facing the Prosecutor, the Defense lawyer finds this sentence “completely disproportionate” and contests this ” intentionality », Penal Code in hand. According to him, in the jurisprudence of involuntary homicide in the case of a road accident, the sentence is often accompanied by a suspended sentence.
The court finally sentenced the 25-year-old man to five prison terms, one of which was suspended, with a committal warrant. The civil interests trial was postponed until March 2025. The young man does not have the right to take a driving test for six years.
