“I was behind this van which was traveling slowly, at 25 km / h and at the exit of the village of Cépet, where the authorized speed was 70 km / h. I wanted to overtake him, but he accelerated when I got to his door. I did not succeed and I crashed into the other car. I misjudged my speed and the distance, ”says the defendant.
This Thursday afternoon, the Toulouse Criminal Court (Haute-Garonne) tried a 39-year-old man, already sentenced to six times in prison for road crimes, for having hit Vanessa's car on January 27, a mother who was returning to her home, and having left her by the roadside.
This recidivist driver was prosecuted for "unintentional injuries resulting in disability of less than three months". Gray sweater, slightly bald skull and left arm in a sling, lost following a motorcycle accident in 2003, this father of three recognized the accident while minimizing his responsibility.
The man, however, gave a hard time to the investigators who took more than three months to arrest him after his escape on the evening of the accident. He had already been convicted of traffic offenses, notably for lack of a license, insurance and drinking and driving. He was on stay and put to the test at the time of the accident. The accused never held a driving license.
"I intended to go after the accident but I wanted to collect things and leave them for the children, because I knew I was going to go to prison, explains in a assured voice this man who practices the trade mechanic and has a garage. I stopped after the accident, for ten minutes, I even talked a little with the victim. "He claims that when the gendarmes tried to arrest him, he did not understand that it was them, for lack of having seen the acronym of the gendarmerie. “And I thought it was young people from the neighborhood with whom I had problems. I did not try to cover up the truth, ”added the defendant.
"Does he have to kill someone so we can arrest him?" "
A version that Vanessa's lawyer, the victim whose daily life is always divided between physiotherapy sessions and surgical operations, has difficulty understanding. "Does he have to kill someone so that we can one day arrest this man?" pleads Kamel Benamghar. My client does not hate him but just wants to understand why she is in this state today. "
After avoiding looking at Vanessa throughout the hearing, the accused finally apologized before the court withdrew to deliberate. The prosecutor had asked for 5 years in prison. The man was eventually sentenced to 30 months in prison and banned from driving for a year. For his lawyer, Me Sarah Nabet-Claverie, "he was especially punished for his refusal to comply and his hit and run, but the accident was reckless, not a deliberate will".
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A cold shower for Vanessa, disappointed by this sentence which she considers minimal. "We give him a pat on the back, it's as if he had hit me a second time," says the bitter forty-something bitter when leaving the courtroom.
