Yet another case of school bullying and a new tragic outcome. On January 7, 2023, Lucas, a 13-year-old teenager, hanged himself in his home located in the Vosges. Nine months after his death, his harassers have just been acquitted.
School bullying is a scourge that the new Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, has decided to combat ruthlessly. Excellent news at a time when cases of school bullying are increasingly leading to tragic endings. In January 2023, it is Lucas, a 13-year-old teenager who decided to end his life and then hanged himself in his family home located in the Vosges. Very quickly, we learned that the young boy had been harassed for months at his school, particularly because of his homosexuality.
This Monday, November 6, 2023, we learn that Lucas’ harassers, namely two boys and two girls, all minors, will not be worried. “The four minors were released” announced the lawyers of two of them, Mes Emmanuelle Larrière and Sébastien Bonnet to AFP.
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Lucas suicide: his fellow “harassers” released
If the Court noted the “odious” nature of comments which had been made by the defendants “between September 1, 2022 and the beginning of October 2022”, on the other hand, she pointed “the absence of demonstrated effect” of these comments “on Lucas’ mental health”.
Despite the difficulties Lucas was going through for months, justice pointed out the absence of a “causal link” between the actions and words of the four defendants, with the schoolboy’s suicide. “It is a relief for the mother of this young person, even if we have not forgotten this tragedy. It has therefore been shown that there was no school harassment” declared Me Béatrice Founès, lawyer for one of the four accused to BMFTV.
We note that last June, the four college students were found guilty of harassment, but the Epinal children’s court did not find a causal link between these facts and Lucas’ suicide. A future hearing was to decide on their sanctions but their lawyers chose to appeal and pleaded for acquittal.