A policeman was sentenced on Wednesday May 3 to a four-month suspended prison sentence for failing to assist a person in danger after the suicide of a teenager whose intentions had been reported to the Verdun police station without any action being taken, a learned AFP from the prosecution.
The Verdun Criminal Court did not attach any ban to his sentence, the public prosecutor Sophie Partouche told AFP, confirming information from the regional daily
L'Est Républicain
.
During the hearing on April 13, the magistrate had requested a six-month suspended prison sentence accompanied by a three-year ban on practicing the police profession against this former head of the urban security brigade (BSU) of Verdun.
Joined by AFP, his lawyer, Me Alice Cohen-Sabban, indicated that she had "not
yet taken stock
" with her client as to a possible appeal.
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No “immediate danger”
The 16-year-old teenager, living in the Montauban region, committed suicide on July 5, 2021. About a month earlier, on the evening of June 8, he had announced on an online game group his intention to end in his days.
After this message, the same evening, he had reconnected, then again the next morning to post a message indicating "
Hello team
", according to
L'Est Républicain
.
The playgroup was managed by a Meusien who had reported to the Verdun police station the message in which the teenager said he wanted to commit suicide.
A handrail had been registered, "
submitted to the head of the BSU
" but "
remained without follow-up
", the policeman considering that there was then no "
immediate danger
“, according to the daily.
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The parents of the teenager then filed a complaint against the police station for failure to assist a person in danger.
An investigation by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) concluded that the head of the BSU had "
taken no steps to rescue the teenager
" and pointed to "
extremely serious inertia
", reports L' Is Republican.
At the hearing, Me Cohen-Sabban pleaded for release, believing that his client had served as a “
scapegoat
”.