Seine-Saint-Denis: three months suspended prison sentence for a police officer who gassed a homeless person

Europe 1 with AFP 4:23 p.m., January 7, 2023

A policewoman was sentenced Thursday by the Bobigny Criminal Court to a three-month suspended prison sentence for having sprayed tear gas on a homeless man in July at Le Bourget in Seine-Saint-Denis, we learned on Saturday from his lawyer.

"She was sentenced to three months' imprisonment fully suspended" for willful violence by a person holding public authority, said Me Estelle Camus, the policewoman's lawyer, confirming information from the

.

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The ban on practicing, requested by the prosecution, was not accepted by the court.

The civil servant suspended by the IGPN since last July

The 27-year-old official has also been suspended by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) since "July 2022", following the events that occurred on the night of July 14 to 15, said her counsel.

She was also released from the charge of non-assistance to a person in danger, as were three colleagues prosecuted solely for these facts, added Me Camus.

The police will not appeal this decision.

"She regrets the facts, she has been keeping a low profile from the start," she said.

An amateur video, filmed at Le Bourget and broadcast on social networks, shows a police vehicle backing up, then stopping at the height of a man, with bags in his hands.

A few seconds later, a member of the crew sprayed him with tear gas at point-blank range.

The police car drives off immediately, without seeing that the man is screaming, staggering, then collapses on the sidewalk.

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The policewoman's lawyer pleaded her client's inexperience, in the field for six months.

"She heard the skipper say 'he's going to spit on me' and she did one squeeze" on her gas, she explained.