Sophie Lacaille was injured by an LBD shot on the sidelines of a demonstration in Bordeaux as part of the Yellow Vests movement in 2018, in which she did not participate. Justice considers that she has committed “culpable recklessness”.
On December 8, 2018, 264 people were injured in France as part of “act 4” of the yellow vests movement. Among them, Sophie Lacaille. This woman received an LBD shot in the neck on the sidelines of the demonstration while she was on a family weekend in Bordeaux (Gironde). Asking that the fault of the State be recognized, she was recently found to be “co-responsible” for her injuries, according to her lawyers.
It was around 5 p.m. when Sophie Lacaille left the restaurant with her daughter. Originally from Normandy, she had come to see how her child, a student who had just arrived in Bordeaux, was installed. In the small streets of the city center, the two women, not knowing the city well, get lost.
Injured in the neck
In this context of social discontent, the Bordeaux demonstration had “quickly turned into a violent crowd”, noted the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) in a report dated July 22, 2019.
Sophie Lacaille and her daughter, without taking part in the demonstration, found themselves near Place Pey-Berland where clashes took place. Then rue du Maréchal Joffre, the mother of the family was hit by an LBD shot in the neck.
“The circumstances in which the shooting took place were special”, notes Me Isabelle Delacour, who defends Sophie Lacaille with Me Adrienne Durand. “The policeman was high up, she was targeted precisely.”
Supported at the Bordeaux University Hospital, Sophie Lacaille also lodged a complaint against X for “involuntary injuries with an incapacity less than or equal to 3 months”. The investigation, entrusted to the IGPN, was finally dismissed, for lack of being able to identify the police officer at the origin of the shooting.
Recognized as 25% responsible
La Normande however persevered, seizing administrative justice to have the fault of the State recognized and to have the damage to her daily life recognized that she considers caused by this shooting: heavy physical consequences, with the wearing of a neck brace for a year , psychological impact and repercussions on her professional activity for this woman who has since been made redundant.
In a judgment rendered on February 23, spotted by Street 89 Bordeaux and that BFMTV.com was able to consult, the administrative court of Bordeaux certainly considered that “the responsibility of the State” was “engaged” in the injuries suffered by Sophie Lacaille. But for justice, the latter would not be totally foreign to it either.
For the Bordeaux judge, the mother of the family “kept in the immediate vicinity of the crowds” while she “could not ignore the serious incidents that occurred” during previous gatherings as part of the mobilization of yellow vests.
He considers that Sophie Lacaille has “committed a culpable recklessness” and is thus responsible for his injuries “up to 25%”.
The case will soon be retried
The financial compensation claimed by the forty-year-old was in fact divided by 10 by the court. Justice has in fact considered that the loss of her job and the attribution of a disabled worker status were not linked to her accident in December 2018 but to “cervicobrachial neuralgia” from which she suffered before. What Sophie Lacaille disputes.
“This decision of the administrative court is abnormal”, slice Me Delacour. “She challenges the freedom to come and go.”
Sophie Lacaille has decided to appeal this decision of the administrative court. In view of the case law, according to his lawyers, the responsibility of a protester, even partial, had never been recognized in his injuries.
