On a road in Gard, Grégory, 30, died in the face of a driver: the motorist sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment

Maîtres Nougier et Deveze-Fabre représentaient les proches de Grégory durant le procès. C.S. – Midi Libre

In this case, the defendant had ignored legal warnings and accumulated faults and negligence. His prison sentence was accompanied by a two-thirds security period during his trial which was held on Tuesday February 13, 2024 in Nîmes, before the criminal court.

When this dramatic accident occurred, the first fatal accident on the roads of Gard in 2023, Grégory, 30 years old, had just picked up his wife at the station.

Professor of history and geography at the Vergèze college, this man described by everyone as extraordinary, including by his students, was seen this evening of January 3, 2023 in Milhaud,   at 9 p.m., his story ends abruptly on this accursed and particularly deadly national 113.

A little earlier in the evening at the café d'Aubord, barely 5 km , Joao, an artisan mason continues  the wiskies with a couple of friends before settling down dead drunk behind the wheel of a Mercedes, to go buy cigarettes according to several testimonies.

On his way, anyone who drives despite the judicial cancellation of his license, here with 1.02g of alcohol per liter of blood, then comes across two motorists whose testimonies will overwhelm this man. Excessive speed, violation of priority rules… Joao twice came close to causing an accident, until one which was then inevitable.

At 9:05 p.m., the gendarmes from the Bernis brigade were called to intervene in Milhaud, following a head-on collision between two vehicles. On a particularly accident-prone portion of the RN 113, Grégory, at the wheel of his small city car, was quickly declared dead, at 9:35 p.m., despite a long cardiac massage.

At his side, his wife is in a terrible state, while in the big engine which was clearly traveling in the wrong direction, Joao is suffering, in particular, from a subdural hematoma .

According to initial information, this motorist violated the solid line, before hitting the young couple head-on. And take the life of Grégory who will then leave behind an inconsolable family.

8 years required, 10 pronounced

During his trial which was held on Tuesday February 13, 2024 at the Nîmes criminal court, Joao, 39 years old and father of 3 children, had to answer for '& quot; homicide and unintentional injury by driver with two aggravating circumstances.

Questioned by the president, this little-spoken defendant whose record includes less than 12 mentions, including three for driving without a license, immediately indicates to the bar ;"not having stolen the car"…

"You are not here for theft Sir, but for having taken the life of a man!", the president immediately reframes.< /p>

Gone too soon, Grégory leaves behind an inconsolable family D.R. – D.R.

Annoyed by the defendant's background and his attitude, the magistrate tries to understand what could have caused this evening to happen. nbsp;the one at the helm then invokes memory lapses, to take the wheel.

"There is no distrust of the court. My client was in a coma for 15 days, it's quite sincere that he no longer remembers the precise course of events, points out his lawyer.

After the vibrant tribute of his sister, Grégory is mentioned by the lawyers of his wife, his siblings and his parents. Devastated.

In his requisitions, prosecutor Bertand then asked for at least 8 years of imprisonment against the driver. To mark the social disapproval of his behavior first, and above all to guarantee that he will no longer cause death because of his deviant behavior.

At the beginning of the evening, under the eyes of his partner, Joao was sentenced beyond the requisitions to 10 years in prison, accompanied by a two-thirds security sentence. The maximum penalty incurred under the penal code in this type of case.

A sentence which he then immediately began to carry out, after being taken to the Nîmes remand center as soon as his trial was over.  

I subscribe to read more