Suspended sentence for teen hunter who shot hiker dead in France
The accident took place during a wild boar hunt that was not properly signposted
The hunt took place in the rural Cantal department
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A teenager who shot dead a hiker during a wild boar hunt in France was given a one-year suspended sentence on Tuesday, October 8.
Mélissa, whose surname has not been released, was sentenced during a closed-door session in a juvenile court because she was 17 at the time of the accident.
She was taking part in a wild boar hunt near the village of Cassaniouze, in the Cantal, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, on February 19, 2022 when she shot hiker Mélodie Cauffet, 25, in the chest.
Attempts to revive Ms Cauffet failed and she died at the scene.
Mélissa was prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter. She admitted the facts and said she had not slept since the accident, France 3 reported.
The prosecution requested a one-year suspended prison sentence, the cancellation of her hunting licence and a ban on reapplying for 10 years.
“The penalty imposed on this young girl is fair… the sentence is somewhat symbolic,” said Pierre Méral, the lawyer of Ms Cauffet’s boyfriend, after the verdict.
“Today we have several families who are in a situation of having a heavy burden to carry and are able to move on."
The lawyer for Melissa, the hunter, said it had been “an unfortunate accident” and the young woman was “terribly marked by what she did”.
The Cassaniouze communal hunting association was sentenced to a fine of €80,000, with €40,000 suspended, on Thursday, October 3 for not following the rules of organising a hunt.
It was supposed to have put up 11 signs warning the public that a hunt was in progress. Investigators found only one. Some had been left in the boot of an organiser's car.
