At the statement of the judgment, applause exploded at the back of the room of the Marseille Criminal Court, on the benches of the many victims present on this Thursday afternoon, at the same time as surprised cries. “We should never be happy with a prison sentence,” replies President Céline Ballerini. The Marseille criminal court had just announced a decision expected for years: the sentencing of Lionel Guedj to an eight-year prison sentence. This Marseille dentist is accused of having mutilated hundreds of patients between 2006 and 2012, mostly from the northern districts.
Repeated cysts, falling bridges, even total loss of teeth, during the long weeks of this trial which was held at the end of the year, the victims had emotionally recounted their ordeal, after having consulted this dentist who promised a “star smile”.
Nearly three million euros in turnover
According to a calculation by the Marseille public prosecutor’s office, this young dentist described as pleasant had devitalized 3,900 healthy teeth, without any therapeutic justification, out of 350 patients, for the sole purpose of placing very profitable bridges on them. In 2010, the practitioner thus became the highest paid dentist in France with 2.9 million fees. “He came to scratch the CMU [couverture médicale universelle] “, had struck the prosecution at the hearing. According to Social Security, he placed 28 times more prostheses than the average French dentist.
His father and associate Jean-Claude Guedj was sentenced to five years in prison. The prosecution had requested a fine of 375,000 euros, the maximum incurred for the offense of fraud, and a ten-year prison sentence for intentional violence resulting in the mutilation of Lionel Guedj. An immediate deposit warrant was decided by the court in view of the “seriousness” of the acts, in the words of Céline Ballérini. A decision that caused a new round of applause in the room.