Creteil (AFP)

The man accused of the manslaughter of the husband of the activist and elected Parisian Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, who died following a session of "chemsex", was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison including one year suspended by the court of Créteil.

One night in May 2018, Christophe M. and Tuan N., who got to know each other via a dating application, decide to have sex under the influence of drugs, a practice called "chemsex", a contraction of "chemicals" (chemical drugs) and "sex".

When he arrives at Tuan N.'s home, Christophe M. is already alcoholic according to the elements of the investigation, which his lover has maintained to ignore.

On the proposal of Tuan N., Christophe M. takes MDMA and GBL, an industrial liquid banned for sale since 2011 that is extremely dangerous to associate with alcohol.

This sedative and respiratory depressant can cause loss of consciousness that potentially leads to coma or even death.

In front of the Créteil court (Val-de-Marne) on Thursday, Tuan N. said he had surprised Christophe during the evening ingesting GBL from the bottle.

"I screamed, I panicked, I told him: + It's not water! +", Sobbed the defendant, visibly upset.

Christophe M. then dozed off, a reaction that Tuan N. likened to a "G-Hole", a discomfort created by the absorption of GBL from which we wake up "a few hours later", according to him.

But when another partner contacted on a dating application that same night arrives at Tuan N.'s home, he notices that Christophe M. is "already cold" and immediately calls the fire department, according to the instruction.

Mr. Tuan "was not aware of the seriousness of the situation", defended his counsel Me Pierre-Emmanuel Blard to explain the inaction of his client.

The toxicological expertise carried out post-mortem concluded that the combination of MDMA, GBL and alcohol "could have been the cause of acute intoxication".

- "Absolutely inconsistent" -

Very moved, the widowed husband of the victim, the elected Parisian Jean-Luc Romero-Michel, declared to have brought a civil action "so that there is not another Christophe who dies".

The deputy mayor of Paris said "it was not just a chemsex session that went wrong", astonished at the "absolutely inconsistent" facts that make up the file.

The one who wrote a book following the death of his companion, with whom he lived for 11 years, argued that Christophe was fully aware of the risks associated with mixing alcohol and GBL, in particular for having worked in associations of prevention against narcotics.

The defense counsel had pleaded the release arguing that it is "the mixture (of alcohol and narcotics) which is at the origin of the death" and that it is the alcohol "consumed outside the home "by Tuan N. who proved to be" dangerous with the GBL ".

The court sentenced Tuan N. to two years' imprisonment, one of which was suspended for manslaughter in particular, the firm sentence being in the form of an electronic bracelet.

Tuan N. will also have to pay 25,000 euros to the civil party for moral damage.

Chemsex has grown considerably thanks to dating apps and is known to increase pleasure and increase stamina.

Many voices are raised against this risky practice to warn against potential addictions and overdoses, like the association for the fight against HIV Aides which has made it one of its "priorities".

Tuan N., a hitherto uneventful business manager, was sentenced two weeks ago to a 10-month suspended prison sentence for drug trafficking.

© 2021 AFP