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Parents Decry ’Racist Justice’ After Driver Sentenced in 8-Year-Old’s Fatal Pedestrian Crossing Accident
Wednesday 21 December 2022, by
The reaction of Yanis’ parents, the 8-year-old child who died in February after being hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing in Villeneuve-de-la-Raho, did not wait after the verdict of the Perpignan Criminal Court, which sentenced the driver to two years in prison with probation. They denounce "a racist justice" and intend to appeal the judgment.
It is "a racist justice, our son’s name is Yanis and not Yannick," denounced on Tuesday the parents of Yanis at the end of the trial on the death of their little boy near Perpignan on February 6, 2022. The Perpignan Criminal Court sentenced Marie-Christine B., 57, the driver who fatally hit the little boy, to two years in prison with probation and one year suspension of her driver’s license, reports francebleu. She was tried for involuntary manslaughter with aggravating circumstances.
In their decision, the judges ruled out speeding (50 km/h in an area posted at 30 km/h) and hit-and-run. Yanis died after being hit, but not crushed and dragged by the car, they estimated. At a previous hearing, the prosecutor had notably requested a sentence of five years in prison with probation. "We still manage to minimize the probation, deplores Yanis’ father. She should have had her license revoked for life, given her criminal driving."
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the victim’s parents intend to appeal.