the essential
A 43-year-old woman was sentenced to 18 years of criminal imprisonment for the murder of her newborn, killed on a Ouigo train in 2021. The defense denounces a harsh decision and announces a possible appeal.
After three days of trial at the Pas-de-Calais Assize Court, a 43-year-old woman from Brebières was sentenced on Wednesday December 18, 2024 to 18 years of criminal imprisonment, reports France Bleu. She was on trial for the murder of her newborn, a child born from a hidden and unwanted pregnancy, killed on board a Ouigo train between Lille and Marseille in September 2021.
The child’s body was found in the TGV toilets during cleaning at the Marseille Saint-Charles station.
In addition to the prison sentence, the forty-year-old will have to comply with a four-year socio-judicial follow-up including a treatment order. The court took into account an alteration of his discernment at the time of the facts.
A verdict contested by the defense
This sentence is slightly lower than the 25 years of imprisonment required by the attorney general, who stressed that the accused was aware of her pregnancy and intended to kill her baby. “A child died that day, we cannot believe in denial,” he said.
For his part, the condemned woman’s lawyer denounced an “incomprehensible” and “absolutely severe” decision. He believes that justice has not sufficiently taken into account the societal context of neonaticide, a phenomenon that he describes as frequent. He announced his intention to appeal within 10 days.
The father of the child, who had filed a civil claim, did not request damages.
