Farès D., found guilty of having voluntarily mowed down police officer Franck Labois in 2020 by fleeing at the wheel of a van, was sentenced Wednesday evening to thirty years’ imprisonment by the Rhône Assize Court while the Advocate General had requested life imprisonment.
In their verdict delivered after five hours of deliberation, the jurors retained the “extraordinary seriousness of this gesture” resulting, according to them, from the desire of the 24-year-old accused “to escape an arrest at all costs”, resulting in the death of the police officer on the night of January 10 to 11, 2020. An “undeniable homicidal intent”, explained the president of the court Antoine Molinar-Min.
“Verdict of relief”
“It’s a verdict of relief,” reacted Jean-François Barre, lawyer for the Labois family. The latter and the many police officers gathered at the time of the statement welcomed the verdict with great emotion for long moments.
“The most important thing for us is the recognition of the intention to kill. Because ultimately it frees us all from that feeling of guilt. That’s what we all expected from this trial, to really put the guilt on the right side, it’s his fault, ”said Marianne Charret-Lassagne, head of departmental security at the time of the events.
The Advocate General, like the civil parties, had pleaded that this intention was reflected both in the percussion, but also in “all the acceleration of the van”. The body of the policeman had been dragged about ten meters.
“We condemn this man to be older than his age”
Judged since Monday, the accused denied any desire to kill. “The homicidal intention was retained, provided that it was admitted that the accused could keep hope, demonstrate that he was able to think, to progress”, commented his lawyer Julien Charle.
“He had these few words, saying ‘it’s like that’. It’s a way to respect the court decision, to try to think about it and hear it, ”said the lawyer. And to note: “We condemned this man to more than his age”.
On the night of the tragedy, the GAO police officer took part in an operation aimed at arresting a team of criminals who had just stolen a load of washing powder in Isère. On the outskirts of Lyon, the Volkswagen van carrying the stolen goods found itself stuck by two vehicles and attempted a maneuver to get out, hitting Franck Labois head-on, standing in his way, gun in hand.
He didn’t shoot. “Franck Labois loved life so much that it was impossible for him to kill,” said Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, lawyer for the victim’s colleagues.
There will be no trace of braking on the ground and the policeman will die three days later. The investigation made it possible to go back to three men, including Farès D., finally arrested on January 16.
Early delinquency
The defendant’s lawyers hammered home during their pleadings that he only thought of “running away”, and pointed to the “uncertainties” of the file while the lawyers for the policeman’s family described them as a man with a head of a “determined” team.
Previously, his relatives had described him as “nice and calm”, but also “influenceable”, at the mention of early delinquency: a dozen facts already condemned, plus a few judgments still awaited, in particular for the theft of the fatal night.
As he spoke for the last time, the accused spoke “to the family, to the brothers, to the mother”. “I sincerely apologize,” he said simply.