Three years of imprisonment including two years with probationary suspension were required Wednesday, November 10 in Lyon against a fairground, tried in correctional after the accident of his merry-go-round in Neuville-sur-Saône (Rhône) which had killed one in March 2018 .
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"
He operated his merry-go-round every day, and every day his merry-go-round was a public danger
," said prosecutor Anne-Lise Furstoss in her indictment. “
We are in this business well beyond simple negligence or lack of maintenance. We are on an accumulation of things which follow one another
”, added the magistrate. She also demanded a definitive ban on carrying out the activity of fairground against the accused, tried for "
manslaughter
".
An eight-month suspended prison sentence, a ban on practicing his profession for two years and a fine of 5,000 euros were also requested against a 59-year-old technical inspector, who was prosecuted for “
endangering” others
”.
"
There was a need for a thorough check, he did not really want to disagree with the fairgrounds,
" said the prosecutor in substance, blaming the auditor for not having examined vital parts of the merry-go-round "
In a state of disrepair
".
Uncontrolled movement of the nacelles
The drama occurred on March 31, 2018 in a funfair in Neuville-sur-Saône, about fifteen kilometers north of Lyon, on and around a merry-go-round made up of sixteen nacelles attached to a rotating structure, which went up and down. As the merry-go-round was launched, a creaking sound was heard by witnesses who then felt an uncontrolled movement of the nacelles before seeing decorative elements fall, colorful butterflies weighing 9.5 kilos.
The victim who was killed, a 40-year-old father who was in one of the cradles with his partner and his 7-year-old son, was allegedly hit head-on by one of these elements.
Their basket only had two seat belts for three seats.
He was said to have lost consciousness and was therefore unable to hold onto the protection bar.
The boy allegedly tried to hold him back without preventing the victim from falling heavily to the ground.
An expertise had highlighted the "
very important
"
dilapidation
of the merry-go-round, manufactured in 1983 or 1984. For his defense, the fairground notably specified that the machine had been the subject of an approved control, one year before the tragedy. .