Gwendoline, 24, was hit by a car in the Charleroi region on January 24. She will die of her injuries on January 30. She leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter, currently in foster care. Sandrine, her mother, is today mourning her daughter, and is at the same time revolted by the judge’s decision as to the sentence of the man who killed her.
What happened ?
The man who was driving the car, accompanied by his wife, hit Gwendoline who was crossing on the pedestrian crossing. He was driving at 80 km / h on a road at 60. Repeated offender, he was driving without a license at the time of the accident and fled after having knocked down the young woman. “He left my daughter like a piece of shit”, tells us her mother, inconsolable since the loss of her eldest daughter. For fear of going to prison, he made the police believe that it was his companion who was driving and not him. Except that the surveillance cameras were able to recognize him behind the wheel.
An unsatisfactory trial verdict for the family
Sandrine says: “We’ve been to court twice. The first time I saw him, and he looked at me meanly in the eye, but I didn’t lower my gaze (…) he apologized but I said: ‘The law is the law, when you see a pedestrian crossing, you stop”. “Frankly hat, I was proud of him“, explains Sandrine. “Even if for me, he deserves more, given the suffering that I will live every day, every minute until the end of my life, I said to myself ‘okay, 11 years is fine.
I walked out of court ready to fall to the ground
Finally, the judge will decide on a sentence of 32 months and a possibility of retake your license in 5 years. Sandrine is in shock at this verdict: “I’m revolted, I don’t find it normal. (…) I left the court, ready to collapse on the ground. It’s disgusting”.
And from a legal point of view?
Bruno Gysels, lawyer and specialist in road traffic, explains the options available to the family following the judgment: “The victim’s family has the possibility of appealing against this judgement. (…) Their appeal can only be made, however, in civil proceedings, so they cannot challenge the prison sentence given to the defendant. It can appeal on financial aspects“. Maître Gysels goes on to explain that the prosecution could also appeal the decision, this time also in criminal proceedings. Arthur, if he considers that the sentence given to him is too heavy, can also appeal the A particularity in this case: “The prosecution must follow the defendant, that is to say that if the latter appeals, the prosecution must also do so to request, suddenly, a heavier sentence”.
For master Gysels, there can also be a strategy of the civil party: “When there is an appeal from a civil party, this will lead to a new trial, and the prosecution will say to itself: ‘As long as there is a new trial, I will appeal too’, so it could be a strategy on the part of the family since the law does not allow him to appeal at the criminal level, regardless of the civil, it will perhaps trigger a criminal appeal from the prosecution.
In general, Bruno Gysels recalls, on the other hand, that it is the judge who decides: “The judge has freedom since the legislator gives him a range of sentences, and then it is up to him to choose a sentence that seems satisfactory to him.“.
We have in our perception of life, as human beings, no preparation for the loss of a child.
Julie Warnier, an independent psychologist, organizes and leads discussion groups at the PEVR, an association for parents who have lost children in road accidents. These sessions are also open to other family members, such as grandparents and siblings. The PEVR also organizes private sessions and other activities that allow parents to meet and discuss.
She explains the great peculiarity of the mourning that a parent must do when he loses a child: “We have in our perception of life, as human beings, no preparation for the loss of a child. It is the child who prepares at some point to lose his parent. So the process is more complicated here, there’s a sense of non-normality and guilt where the parent thinks they’re the ones who have to go.“.
Concretely, little can be done to move forward after such a tragedy. But associations like the PEVR are numerous: “Participating in discussion groups can be calming. Personalized accompaniments also exist. But mourning is still something that takes a long time. Sometimes, the feeling of injustice does not go away, especially when, according to the parent, recognition of the pain caused is not recognized by the courts during the trial. This acknowledgment of pain and loss is very important.”.
Gwendoline’s family decided to appeal to the civil.