The schoolboy who had killed another student receives another 15 years in prison

The drama had aroused great emotion last year in Reims. The special chamber for minors confirmed on Tuesday, on appeal, the sentence of 15 years of criminal imprisonment of a teenager, aged 14 at the time of the facts, for the murder in June 2021 of a schoolboy of the same age. The victim had been stabbed after class, due to a dispute.

The decision was rendered in open court, after 1h30 of deliberation, but the trial was held behind closed doors. The defendant, in a black jacket, is kept in prison. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years, the law providing for minors an excuse of minority.

The special chamber for minors of the Reims Court of Appeal confirmed the entire judgment rendered at first instance on July 1, both at the criminal and civil levels. The victim’s mother collapsed in her lawyer’s arms after the hearing. The sentence is accompanied by a seven-year socio-judicial follow-up and a treatment order.

Stabbing in the city center

In conflict for several days, the two college students, educated in a private establishment, found themselves in the city center of Reims on June 2, 2021. The defendant, who was holding an already unfolded knife, had jumped on his comrade, punching him and stabbing him in the temple. The victim, adopted as a child at the age of three, died on August 21 at Reims hospital without regaining consciousness.

The scene had been filmed by the camera of a nearby store but also by a schoolgirl who came to watch the confrontation with a small group of students. The accused, who had previously been removed from a public establishment following a fight, would have experienced several situations of harassment since primary school.