The priceless cost of stupidity. On Wednesday, an attack alert concerning a Paris-Lille TGV caused a huge mess in train traffic arriving and departing from Lille, in the North. This alert also mobilized a large number of police and firefighters as the threat was taken seriously. And if the relief was general when it was proven that the alert was false, the wrath of the institutions quickly returned to the alleged authors of this bad joke. The latter, a couple in their thirties, could cry much more when the invoice is presented to them than when they are questioned.
“It’s stupidity without name what they did,” sighs Franck Dhersin, vice-president of the European Metropolis of Lille in charge of transport. Furious, his boss, Xavier Bertrand, has already assured that a complaint would be filed against the respondents. “It’s not just the TGVs that have been blocked, it’s all rail traffic,” fulminates the VP for transport. To this complaint from the Hauts-de-France region, many others should be added. The SNCF, the State, the firefighters… “We mobilized seven machines and a lot of personnel, as many means which could be used for something else during this time”, explains to 20 minutes a spokesperson for Sdis 59. And in their “zero tolerance” approach, the firefighters of the North “systematically” file a complaint in similar cases.
Two years imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros
First there is the criminal aspect, the prosecutor of Lille having already assured that the defendants were going to be prosecuted for “false alarm”. According article of the Penal Code applying in this case, “the act of communicating or disclosing false information with the aim of making believe that destruction, degradation or deterioration dangerous to people is going to be or has been committed is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros”. In addition to the amount of the fine, the defendants may also be ordered to pay the legal costs incurred by the civil parties. But these are not the only positions that can be expensive for defendants.
Requested by 20 minutes, the SNCF did not wish to communicate on the estimated amount of the damage. “We are filing a complaint to demand financial accountability, of course,” says Franck Dhersin. “The amount will be calculated according to the number of trains that have been canceled,” he adds, without giving a figure. For the vice-president of the region, there is no doubt that the State will also demand accountability “for the 200 police officers and the Raid mobilized”. Without forgetting the firefighters who estimate their damage around 2,000 to 3,000 euros. “It is not so much for the amount as for the symbol that we will claim compensation”, recognizes with 20 minutes Sdis spokesman.
Countless potential civil parties
If it has not yet been precisely defined, we nevertheless know that the addition will include many zeros. And it doesn’t stop there, at least in theory. Because many other civil parties could be added to an already long list against the couple in question. ” You have article 1240 of the Civil Code which says: ” any act whatsoever of man, which causes damage to others, obliges the one by whose fault it happened to repair it ”, insists Maître Rémi Giroutx, lawyer specializing in compensation for damage. In other words, this means that all SNCF passengers who suffered a train delay or cancellation because of the false attack alert can turn against the defendants. “A link between the fault and the damage is enough for people to be able to claim civil compensation,” adds the lawyer.
Except that in civil matters, the compensation depends on the solvency of the person responsible for the damage, no organization will pay in its place. “If there is an enforcement order for payment, the plaintiff has ten years to claim his due. And this period is extended with each action brought to enforce the judgment. So if the person is insolvent today, nothing says that it will always be in the future”, explains Maître Giroutx.
The trick to see his harm compensated is to attack in criminal proceedings: “Compensation can be claimed during the criminal action. And there it is interesting because you have guarantee organizations which will directly compensate the plaintiffs. This nevertheless implies that the injured travelers bring a civil party to the couple’s trial. “If their damage is substantially the same, they can even all take the same lawyer to defend their case”, adds Maître Giroutx.