In December 2017, a regional express train hit a school bus at the Millas level crossing. Six schoolchildren died, seventeen others injured. Almost five years later, this fall, the driver will have to answer for “homicide and involuntary injuries”.
The trial will begin on September 19, 2022
The trial will take place in Marseille before the criminal court. The hearings will last three weeks from September 19: 130 civil parties will be represented. Given the distance and the duration of the trial, the families of the victims will also be able to follow the proceedings live from a room in Perpignan, as the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti announced in February. This could take place at the convention center, the place can accommodate 400 people. It should also be noted that the SNCF has instituted civil proceedings.
A new challenge for families
All these technical elements were decided this Friday in Marseille during a status hearing, which serves to organize the trial in a way.
This is obviously a step eagerly awaited by the families of the victims. Me Vanessa Brandone: “They are obviously relieved, it’s starting to take a long time this investigation procedure which has been complicated”. And the lawyer for some of the families of victims adds:
Unfortunately the magistrates will be forced to go into details which will be extremely painful for the families but they are prepared. Me Vanessa Brandone, one of the lawyers for the civil party
The relatives of the victims will be accompanied by psychologists in Marseille and Perpignan during the three weeks that the debates will last. The president of the court clarified: “It is not a question of adding to the suffering, but the idea of the court is to take care of the parties because nothing can replace the oral nature of the debates. We will be keen to ensure that that all questions will be answered”.
Streamlined judicial review
Important moment also, for the school bus driver. This 52-year-old woman still maintains that the level crossing barriers were up at the time of the tragedy. “She is waiting for the hearing to explain herself, she hopes to have the strength to do so,” explains her lawyer Me Jean Codognès. The latter also requested and obtained during the pretrial hearing a reduction in the judicial review of his client.
She is a woman who has scrupulously respected all the constraints notified to her for four years. Everyone agreed at the hearing. Obviously, this woman is not going to run away, on the contrary. She is waiting for the audience. Me Jean Codognes
From now on, the former driver no longer needs to travel twice a month to report to the gendarmerie. She remains followed for psychological and psychiatric care.