Three years suspended prison sentence for the author of the fatal accident in Ribaute-les-Tavernes

Une audience emprunte d’émotion au palais de justice d’Alès. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

En novembre 2020, Augustin, 17 ans, avait perdu la vie dans un choc frontal, à Ribaute.

"What meaning should this hearing have ? What to say to a bereaved family or to the accused who must live with this burden ?", asks Nathalie Welte, vice-prosecutor of the Republic of Alès, this Tuesday.
The representative of the prosecution is demanding a three-year suspended prison sentence for the person responsible for the fatal accident of November 19, 2020, in Ribaute. "A significant amount of sentence given the seriousness of the facts."

At the stand, the defendant listens to the requisitions with his head down. The man, marked by the ordeal, has difficulty expressing himself.

In a whisper, he explains that he was leaving for work, that he did not see the motorcycle that morning while it was still dark. He felt the shock. Seriously injured in one eye, it was upon arriving at the hospital that he learned of the death of the young biker. Analyzes did not reveal any drug or alcohol consumption. Only excessive speed, estimated at 117 km/h, on a road limited to 80 km/h can be blamed on the motorist…

"Since then, he has had to live with it, as explained by his advisor Pierre-Yves Racaud. I welcome the requisitions of the public prosecutor. What to say, what to do in such a tragedy? Silence and restraint are essential. He took the life of a 17-year-old young man, that’s the only thing he is capable of saying. The sentence ? Regardless, it will not satisfy the family, and it will not alleviate his guilt."

Marie-Lucie Godard, the chair of the hearing, invites parents to express themselves. The mother has prepared a text but, under the influence of the emotion which overwhelms her, has difficulty articulating it.

Just as dignified, but with misty eyes, the dad admits to a dull anger coupled with unfathomable pain. "I immersed myself in work, not to forget but to not think about it."

Coming from a long line of bikers, Augustin was perfectly equipped with a shell jacket and an approved helmet. "When you ride at 117, you have to realize that there is a risk of taking a son away from his family. My only regret, and yet I'm a biker myself, is having put him on a motorbike", insists the dad.

After deliberating, the court sentences the defendant to three years in prison and a six-month suspension of his driving license.

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