She was driving drunk, without a license or insurance, after having accompanied her companion to attack an acquaintance: a woman was sentenced Thursday, June 2 to 18 months in prison for the death of her little girl in a car accident.
Read alsoDrinking or using the phone while driving, speeding… Measures against road mortality
The correctional court of Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) convicted this 37-year-old mother of manslaughter with aggravating circumstance.
On August 19, 2019, she violently hit a railway bridge in the town of Samer (Pas-de-Calais).
The 18-month-old child, on board with his two brothers, will die two days later, and one of the boys, hit in the spinal cord, is now paralyzed for life.
“Unfortunately, I have done wrong”
Taken care of after the accident, the couple had fled from the Boulogne-sur-Mer hospital, abandoning the two hospitalized children.
He had been arrested two days later in a state of intoxication on the public highway.
Also prosecuted, the father died in 2021 in an assault.
“
I love my children, I always try to do the best, that day, by bad luck, I did some harm,
” launched the defendant.
The president of the court had just underlined his “
lack of seriousness
”.
"
It's not bad luck
," said the prosecutor.
“
Excessive speed, alcohol, improperly fastened seat belts, improperly installed car seat, poorly maintained vehicle: it was the perfect cocktail to have an accident
,” she said, requesting a 30-month prison sentence, including 10 months probationary suspension of 2 years.
“
My client lost everything (...) She was refused release from detention to attend her daughter's funeral.
She has already been judged morally.
I ask you to do law
”, without giving in to “
emotion
”, pleaded Maître Julie Ritaine.
The court also imposed on the 30-year-old a four-month suspended prison sentence for "
willful violence in a meeting
" against an acquaintance.
Read alsoDrinking and driving, rates around the world
A few hours before the accident, the couple had gone to find a childhood friend: "
my spouse wanted to have a discussion with him, because he suspected him of being the father of our daughter
", explained the woman.
Thursday at the bar, this man testified: "
she slapped me and her companion attacked me with a knife
".
The father and mother had been indicted respectively for “
attempted murder
” and “
complicity in attempted murder
” for these facts.
