the debates continue before the Assize Court

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In Saint-Brieuc, the Côtes-d'Armor Assize Court is examining a tragic case: in July 2022, a three-year-old child was found dead in Guingamp. His mother and her partner are accused

Started last Friday, in particular with the presentation of the facts and the statements of several witnesses including the director of investigation of the Guingamp Gendarmerie Research Brigade as well as the first responders, firefighters, SMUR, the debates resumed on Tuesday November 12 2024 in the morning.

It is the two forensic doctors who performed the autopsy on the victim who begin this day. Professor Renaud Bouvet and Doctor Antoine Bigand, from the IML (Medico-Legal Institute) of Rennes, experts at the Court of Appeal who summarized their actions then responded to various questions from the Court and the parties. The first at the bar of the Saint-Brieuc Court, the second by videoconference.

Causes of death: head and brain trauma

These are the conclusions of the autopsy report. The origin of this trauma comes from shaking the child, once in an extremely violent manner or several times, these practitioners cannot determine.

The fact remains that both internal and external lesions are numerous. If last Friday he mentioned around twenty bruises on the boy's body, no less than 67 lesions were noted by these forensic doctors.

The accused's explanations do not correspond to the forensic findings

The explanations provided by Gaël Scoubart during the investigation, according to which he threw little Eythan on his bed on Saturday evening, cannot explain the damage to the victim's brain.

No more than the fact that the little boy would have hit his head on a wall or on the floor. An injury of this type is identical to those observed during a fall from several floors or a violent traffic accident.

Another hematoma also attracted attention, it is placed at the level of the carotid arteries and results from prolonged and intense pressure on the victim's neck. This could have caused unconsciousness in the victim who would then have had no reflex to restrain himself in the event of a possible shaking.

Extreme thinness

Professor Bouvet insisted on the extreme thinness of Eythan D., who weighed only 11.2 kilograms for a three-year-old child. At this age, only 1% of children are underweight.

It was then the turn of Ms. Giorgia Tiscini, clinical psychologist in Rennes, expert in the courts, to testify before the Court, also via videoconference. She spoke with Lisa D. during the procedure.

She began her speech by recalling that the accused had lost her mother when she was only eleven years old. This trauma caused her a psychological deconstruction resulting in an inability to take care of her son.

This expert then cited Lisa D. to support her explanations. Speaking about Eythan, she said: “It's already hard knowing he's dead, I'd rather not know what he went through. »

And detailing life within the family home, she added, speaking of her son: “Eythan was good, he could stay in bed all day.”

Social services also heard

Two social workers from the Guingamp sector were also called to testify. This is the social worker from the gendarmerie in the Guingamp sector as well as Lisa D.'s contact at the MDD (Maison du Département) in Guingamp.

Lisa D. was seen six times by one or other of these people between March 2021 and June 2022. The last appointment will also result in a report to the CRIP (Cellule de Recueil des Informations Concernes ) of Saint-Brieuc.

During one of these meetings, Eythan remained in the corner of an office in front of a puzzle, he spoke alone in an incomprehensible way, his mother explained that he was in his bubble. They were mainly in need of financial and food aid.

A unanimous neighborhood survey

Neighbors then brought their testimonies before the Court, all of them were unanimous. Lisa D. was a rather unpleasant, disrespectful neighbor who could be rude towards them.

They remember seeing Eythan and his mother walking, but only when he was a baby. Subsequently, the few times the little boy was seen, he was accompanied by a man, not always the same: brother, friend or companion of the child's mother.

An eleven-year-old girl, also residing in the same building, told investigators that she saw Lisa D. alone on Saturday July 9, 2022, late in the afternoon, crying in the parking lot. The latter has no memory of it, she does not remember leaving her house that evening.

The President of the Court then read out the hearings of several gendarmes who intervened on July 10, 2022 at the home of Lisa D. Here too, the comments are similar. An apartment in deplorable condition, almost no emotion on the part of Gaël Scoubart, rather preoccupied with his dog.

A sad circumstance?

The child's mother at times showed emotion that seemed exaggerated, tears that the gendarmes perceived as resulting from her placement in police custody rather than from the death of her son.

One of them even declared: “All the police who intervened at the home that day were affected by the death of the little boy, which did not seem to be the case for Lisa D.”

SK

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