Two men were sentenced Tuesday in Montauban to eight years and one year, respectively in prison, for willful violence in a meeting leading to the death of a former soldier without intention of causing it. These convictions are in accordance with the requisitions of the attorney general on Tuesday, on the second day of this trial which opened Monday before the criminal court of Tarn-et-Garonne.
Emmanuel Cueff, former soldier of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment of Montauban, was killed during a brawl leaving a bar on the night of October 29 to 30, 2021, in the presence of his wife. At the hearing, one of these accused, both aged 23, admitted to having punched the former master corporal twice, while the second denied having kicked him in the chest in the when the victim was on the ground.
“Stupid accident,” according to defense lawyer
For Guy Debuisson, defense lawyer, it is “from a stupid accident”while the victim was heavily alcoholic with a level of more than two grams per liter of blood at the time of the tragedy. “It was not the punches that killed Emmanuel Cueff, but the impact of his head against the pavement as he fell”insisted the lawyer.
At the end of the hearing, Séverine Cueff, the soldier's widow, said she was satisfied with the sentence handed down by the judges: “We feared that the court would acquit one of the accused. Ultimately both are guilty. It's a page from a book that is about to end. With my children we will try to rebuild ourselves”. “My husband served France for 17 and a half years. He was someone upright, far from the image we tried to create of him during the hearing”she declared again.
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