Cat of two Bordeaux women crushed by a train: SNCF released on appeal

This is probably the legal end point of the Neko case. This Friday, the Paris Court of Appeal acquitted the SNCF, confirms to France Bleu Gironde the lawyer for the 30 million friends foundation, which had filed a civil suit. The judgment was rendered almost two years after the facts, which date back to January 2, 2023 at Montparnasse station in Paris. That day, two Bordeaux women, a mother and her teenage daughter, saw their cat die before their eyes. The animal had escaped from the owner's bag, and the SNCF agents did not want to postpone the departure of the train under which the animal had taken refuge. “I was screaming, I was panicking, I was calling out to people. Then our cat was executed,” denounced the teenager at the time in Le Parisien.

The SNCF was condemned and appealed

The matter had concerned the mother of the family had organized a rally in front of Bordeaux station, and the 30 million friends foundation filed a complaint. Sentenced in July 2023 to pay damages, the SNCF had appealed of this judgment which condemned her for negligence.

The company was therefore judged again on September 27, 2024, before the Paris Court of Appeal. “I had to blow my whistle, longer and louder than usual, hoping to scare him, then I closed the doors and the train left,” the train controller then explained, as reported by France Inter. The prosecution had requested the acquittal of the SNCF, considering that no fault had been committed. The court of appeal therefore followed it.