The blank stare at the time of deliberation, the 62-year-old defendant does not seem to have understood the sentence pronounced by the president. A few seconds earlier, the correctional court of Évry however condemned him to a sentence of three years of imprisonment, with a warrant of deferred committal, for the aggravated manslaughter of Françoise.
This 75-year-old retiree died on May 26, 2017 in the parking lot of the E.Leclerc shopping center in Viry-Chatillon (Essonne), after being knocked down by her van. He will also have to pay a total of 145,879 euros to the relatives of the victim, in respect of damages.
That day, it is 10:30 a.m. when this delivery driver completes a delivery in a small one-way alley that borders the hypermarket. “To avoid going around the mall”, the man begins to back up. During this dangerous maneuver, carried out without visibility, at the wheel of a van in poor condition, uninsured and devoid of radar and reversing beep, he hit the retiree and crushed her.
He flees but an ambulance driver raises his license plate
Witnesses assured investigators that they had tried to convince the driver to stop. But he would have made a “no” sign with his hand before leaving the premises. He will finally be identified thanks to the intervention of an ambulance driver who followed him and who took down the license plate.
During the hearing held on October 23, the man, who no longer had points on his driving license, justified his flight by explaining “not having felt anything”. “I can’t understand, he let go of the bar. If I had known, I would not have continued my deliveries. »
A version that those close to Françoise refute as a whole. “His refusal to accept reality, to be sincere, hurts us enormously,” lamented one of the sons. “It is a strategy that he adopts and which does not allow him to apologize since he is never wrong”, had abounded his brother. The prosecutor, who had requested a four-year prison sentence, also did not believe the defendant’s version. “He must have realized what was happening because of the noise of the shock, the sensation while rolling on the body, she had defended during her requisitions. Three people told him to stop. He takes responsibility. »
To carry out his sentence, the driver will soon be summoned by the prosecution and then he will be imprisoned.