The Polish truck driver who had involuntarily knocked down and killed a “yellow vest” on a Bonpas roundabout in Avignon in December 2018 was sentenced on Wednesday to one year suspended sentence by the Avignon Criminal Court. Mateusz Kororski, 29, is sentenced for “manslaughter for breach of a duty of care”, after reclassification of the initial head of prevention of manslaughter, says the lawyer of the family of the victim. Me Olivier Collion considers himself satisfied with a judgment which “helps to appease and dispassionate things”.
On December 13, 2018, shortly after midnight, the Polish driver arriving from Italy and not speaking a word of French found himself blocked by a filter barrier set up by “yellow vests” at the southern entrance to Avignon. . Scared, he forced the roadblock and rolled over one of the demonstrators, Denis David, a young man of 23, living in the commune of Pontet. The victim died of severe trauma and internal bleeding.
“You have to accept that sometimes this kind of drama happens”
– Me Collion, lawyer for the victim’s family
At the hearing, in mid-October, the driver explained that he was afraid, convinced that he was dealing with “looters” seeking to steal his cargo. “We can understand his fear”, then recognized the representative of the prosecution. The judgment, in accordance with the requisitions of the public prosecutor at the hearing and “in accordance with the conduct of the hearing”, “allows to dispassionate things”, said Me Collion to AFP. “It was clearly an accident, you have to accept that sometimes this kind of drama happens”, insisted the lawyer, for the sake of appeasement.