Lilian, a nearly 3-year-old boy, died in 2014. His parents complained that the product’s packaging did not clearly warn of choking hazards.
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The Dax criminal court released Monday, July 11, for lack of evidence, the company Herta, eight years after the death of Lilian, a boy of almost 3 years suffocated with a piece of sausage, in a campsite in the Landes. The Herta company, which markets Knacki in particular, was released in accordance with the requisitions of the prosecution. In the“lack of criminal investigation” at the time of the tragedy, “no constituent element of manslaughter can be characterized”justified the court.
In the absence of material findings and autopsies, “no breach of a safety rule or negligence”, “nor causal link” with the death of little Lilian “So the company cannot be blamed”, continued the president of the court Laure Vuitton. Me Philippe Courtois, the lawyer for the parents of Lilian, Florence and Vincent Lerbey, absent from the deliberations, regretted a release “based on form and not substance”. “The court could not rule on the absence of information given to the consumer on the risks of choking for young children”he lamented in particular.
At the time, only one “recommendation for young people” to cut into “tiny bits” was indicated on the packets. Not enough “light” and “explicit” for the family whose fight since 2015 has made it possible to insert a new warning logo on the back of the packaging: “For children under 4, cut the sausage lengthwise and then into very small pieces to prevent the risk of choking.” Lilian’s parents subsequently filed a complaint in 2017 against Herta, asking for the symbolic euro to prevent the tragedy from happening again.
Prosecuted for “manslaughter by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation of security or prudence”, the Herta company has always refuted the dangerousness of its Knacki, while arguing that there was still a doubt about the brand of sausage ingested that day by little Lilian, for lack of material evidence. The Herta group declined to comment on the decision.