Strasbourg: Hautepierre hospital - A. Ighirri / 20 Minutes

At the hearing, he apologized, promised to pay compensation to his victims. Florian S., 23, was prosecuted on Monday for an immediate appearance before the Strasbourg Criminal Court for contempt and death threats against three nurses and an officer from the fire department of Hautepierre hospital. "While in police custody, he had time to realize the seriousness of the facts," said Me Charles-Antoine Hosseini, his legal aid lawyer.

Saturday morning, the young man, suffering from epilepsy, wakes up tied to a bed, in an emergency room of the hospital. Faced with the nurses' refusal to detach him without a doctor's agreement, he entered into a black anger and, jostling the stretcher, insulted the employees who had come to keep him in place: "Slut", "son of a bitch", allegedly he notably vociferated. He spits in their direction several times, wishing them to contract Covid-19 if he is himself a carrier of the virus. His sputum hit one of the nurses and the hospital worker in the face. The police are then called.

"Justice has seized the problem"

Counsel for the accused describes "an inexplicable, unreasonable reaction" to someone who failed to take treatment for epilepsy and consumed alcohol. "He was a pizza delivery man, until a scooter accident in November, due to an epilepsy attack," adds Mr. Hosseini. He was hospitalized for a week and no longer works. The day before the facts, his partner noticed convulsions and called the Samu, he was sedated. When he wakes up, he does not remember anything and reacted very badly, instead of taking it upon himself. Following the prosecution's requisitions, the young man was sentenced to six months in prison, without a warrant, to pay 600 euros to the two victims who received a sputum and 400 euros to the other two.

"The civil parties are satisfied with the immediate criminal treatment, the accused has apologized flatly," said Raphaël Nisand, their lawyer. "This case has not been trivialized by the courts," he said. This is important, when you know that many people are hesitant to file a complaint. Our police and our justice have seized the problem. Note that the compensation to the victims is lower than his initial request.

If he recalls that "the nursing staff do a wonderful job", Mr. Hosseini, the defendant's lawyer, considers, in "the context of the virus", that it was necessary to seek explanations in this case, without changing in "people's court". What was done, he said. His client will now have to pay compensation to the victims, and serve his sentence, after being summoned by the enforcement judge.

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  • Covid 19
  • Coronavirus
  • Strasbourg
  • Hospital
  • Justice