Night of July 6 to 7. In front of the Limoges University Hospital, a 54-year-old man of no fixed address found himself facing two hospital interns, drunk after a student evening. When he asks them for a cigarette, he faces their refusal, lets out a few insults then moves on. But immediately one of them loses control. He rushes towards the homeless man: an outburst of violence begins. Around twenty punches, 27 precisely, as evidenced by the establishment’s surveillance videos. The victim, on the ground, will then be treated in the emergency room and will be prescribed 5 days of ITT.
This Tuesday, November 26, the two riflemen involved in this case appeared before the Limoges criminal court. After a three-hour hearing, they were both found guilty. The perpetrator – currently a surgical intern, training at the Toulouse University Hospital – was convicted of aggravated violence and received a six-month suspended prison sentence and 105 hours of community service, announce our colleagues at France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine. His state of intoxication was also retained as “aggravating circumstance”. Also, with the entry of these facts on his criminal record, the student is prohibited from practicing medicine. He has six months to appeal this conviction and therefore have this decision overturned.
His comrade, also a medical intern, was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros – including 2,000 suspended – for “failure to assist a person in danger”. He did not react during the attack. During the hearing, the latter assured that he could not prevent his comrade from hitting the homeless man. In addition, since these facts will not be recorded in his criminal record, the student will be able to continue practicing, reports France 3.
“This case is striking because of the quality of the authors”
“The sentences imposed will not repair the harm suffered by the victim nor their feeling of being downgraded from having been treated less well, because they are vulnerable and homeless,” Me Maître Marie Golfier-Rouy, lawyer for the civil parties, then reacted after the hearing.
A source close to the matter interviewed by further explains that “this case is of concern because of the quality of the authors and the medical interns.” “One could expect that, in their capacity as doctors, they would be able to escape these pitfalls of violence,” adds the same source.
The Limoges University Hospital, where the two students were in training, emphasizes that an internal investigation was opened last summer, following the events. Moreover, “these two health students may be subject to individual administrative sanctions, when the University Hospital has become aware of the details of the decisions, the administrative procedure being complementary to the legal procedure”, specifies the general management of the hospital in a press release sent to France 3.
Source: www.liberation.fr
