Two years in prison. This Thursday, November 28, 2024, a 21-year-old young man was sentenced by the Alençon court (Orne) for the death of two of his friends, passengers in his vehicle during a terrible accident last June. Alcohol and speed: a fatal cocktail which did not plead in its favor in court. But the penalties could soon become much harsher.
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Involuntary homicide, the term no longer applies to families of road accident victims, in the event of aggravating circumstances. For them, the car is a weapon, and its reckless use must be punished much more severely.
This Thursday in Alençon, two families united in the same tragedy presented themselves in court for the hearing of a night of celebration which ended badly.
On the night of June 15 to 16, 2024, six comrades board a five-seater car to party in Alençon. The young driver, holder of a probationary license, lost control of his Clio sport in a bend on the 4 lanes towards Sées (Orne). Two of the passengers died in the accident.
According to the findings of the gendarmes, the car was traveling at a speed of 110 km/h instead of 80. His blood alcohol level was measured at 0.68 g per liter of blood. Added to this is a lack of insurance.
The family of Florian Loir insisted on coming to the trial with the photo of their son, who died in the accident.
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© F3 Normandie
“It’s the lack of awareness of respect for the law, the lack of awareness of safety rules, of basic caution”according to Maître Bertrand Deniaud, lawyer for the civil parties. “He had already had problems with the law, offenses and convictions which had alerted him. But no, he continued and the tragedy happened which hung over his nose and cost the lives of two people.”
The public prosecutor had requested a prison sentence of 5 years, with a warrant of committal, accompanied by a probationary suspension of 2 years.
Ultimately, the driver was sentenced to 4 years, 2 of which were suspended. “It’s a very heavy sentence with at least two years of detention, it seems excessive”regrets Master Vincent Rivière, defense lawyer. “It is clear that justice is becoming more and more repressive in this type of case so that the message gets across. There are cases of manslaughter with alcohol levels of 2 or 3 grams, or under cocaine, and with much more dangerous faulty behavior There, there is an accumulation of simple faults…”
Upon his release, he will have to receive treatment and compensate the victims. His license was also canceled and he is banned from taking it again for 3 years.
The offense of road homicide was discussed last January in the National Assembly for the first time. This involves removing the qualifier involuntary in the event of aggravating circumstances: taking medication, speed, alcohol, drugs, telephone, etc.
But in the meantime, the Assembly was dissolved and the bill remained blocked.
The Palmade affair served as a reminder of the difficulty of finding convictions commensurate with human tragedies. The French comedian was recently sentenced to five years in prison, including two years for the serious road accident he caused while under the influence of drugs. One of the injured was pregnant at the time of the incident and had lost the child she was carrying.
But in concrete terms, the creation of this offense of road homicide appears more like a simple semantic change, because as it stands, it would not be accompanied by a specific system of criminal sanctions or an increase in the penalties already provided for involuntary homicides.
