He was driving too fast, without a licence, under the influence of alcohol and narcotics and had ended up in a canal where one of his passengers died: a 24-year-old man was sentenced to 5 years in prison for manslaughter, Friday June 24 in Nancy.
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The driver, who had also fled after the accident, appeared on May 6 with the three surviving passengers for this fatal road trip which occurred on August 29.
One of the passengers, who had fled with the driver, was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to assist a person in danger.
A “
very severe,
disproportionate” sentence for his lawyer Me Olivier Nunge, who plans to appeal.
Another passenger, the owner of the car, who was not insured and whose gray card was not up to date, received a six-month suspended prison sentence and fines.
The prosecution had requested the release.
The fourth, a soldier who had dived several times to try to save the victim, is released.
Maître Vincent Julé-Parade, lawyer for the victim's mother, welcomes a "
satisfactory
" judgment, in particular the conviction of the owner of the vehicle which sends a "
strong message
": "
We cannot, knowingly, let driving a car without insurance to someone who does not have a license
, ”insisted the lawyer.
Half an hour without calling for help
The driver, William Y., had lost control of the car on a roundabout south of Nancy and it had ended up at the bottom of a canal.
Four of the five occupants were able to escape but Sarah, 21, drowned: the prosecution had requested five years in prison against the driver for "
manslaughter
".
After getting out of the vehicle, the four defendants had remained on the bank for more than half an hour, haggard, without calling for help.
The soldier had, however, tried to save Sarah by plunging into the water several times, without success.
With the passenger who owned the car, he ended up alerting the emergency services from a nearby gas station, more than an hour after the accident.
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But the driver and the fourth passenger had fled, stopping a motorist who had dropped them off in Nancy where they were arrested near the station a few hours later.
These two defendants sought "
to save their skin
" in view of their loaded criminal records, had estimated Me Vincent Julé-Parade.
An assertion refuted by the defense which had pleaded the "
state of shock
".
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