Vaud
A suspended sentence for a young alcoholic driver who killed his childhood friend
A serious traffic accident had occurred in 2018, with alcohol and excessive speed in the background. The court has just sentenced the driver to a two-year suspended prison sentence.
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The Broye and Nord vaudois district court where the hearing took place.
VQH/Jean-Paul Guinnard
Two friends had gone on a trip in August 2018. They had then locked beers in various places in La Broye, in particular at a youth party. The youngest, aged 21 at the time, then took the wheel of the vehicle of his 24-year-old friend, who was seated in the passenger seat. Despite his condition, the young driver had driven at high speed and made dangerous overtaking, before violently go off the road between Champmartin and Chabrey (VD). Ejected from the vehicle, he suffered serious injuries but survived. The owner of the vehicle, although attached, had died at the scene of the accident.
The survivor was tried on Wednesday in Yverdon-les-Bains, in particular for negligent homicide. He received a two-year prison sentence suspended for five years and a fine of 1,500 francs. He will also have to bear the costs of the case, reimburse the price of the destroyed vehicle and bear the legal costs of the victim’s family. Reparations for moral damage have not yet been quantified by the parents and the two brothers of the deceased.
A family and human drama with serious consequences
Now 26 years old, the defendant lives with his parents and works on the family estate. He earns a small nest egg, but is fed and housed in return. The farmer, who took the driver’s license again in the fall of 2020, lives more or less in seclusion. To the question of the president of the court, Donovan Tésaury: “What lessons have you learned from all this, when you go out?” the man shyly replied, “I hardly go out anymore. And when that’s the case, I don’t drive anymore.
His lawyer, Me Jean-Claude Mathey added: “You can tell the court that you are an outcast in your village where half the population no longer speaks to you.” The young man, neat and of average stature, coyly nodded. “Without minimizing the facts, this human and family drama has consequences that go beyond the scope of this trial,” noted the lawyer.
On leaving the court, the young farmer, visibly moved, did not wish to speak. “It’s still too early for him. He made a youthful mistake, the consequence of which was very serious: he still killed a childhood friend, ”summed up Me Mathey.