The lawyers of Nadine Oliveira, 53, tried for “homicides and involuntary injuries”, had asked for the release of their client, hospitalized since September 22.
The driver of the school bus hit by a TER at the Millas level crossing (Pyrénées-Orientales) in December 2017, an accident which caused the death of six children, was sentenced on Friday November 18 to five years in prison, four of which were suspended .
The lawyers of Nadine Oliveira, 53, tried for “manslaughter and manslaughter“, had asked for the release of their client, hospitalized since September 22 and absent at the pronouncement of the judgment on Friday. The year in prison will be executed by the defendant under the regime of home imprisonment, under electronic surveillance, said the president of the Marseille criminal court.
A “struck” driver
Thursday, September 22, just four days after the opening of her trial for manslaughter and involuntary injury, Nadine Oliveira, 53, had been like “lightned” , in the words of one of his lawyers. Taken by an irrepressible fit of tears, she had ended up being evacuated by the marine-firefighters. Hearing the heartbreaking stories of some of the 17 teenagers injured in this tragedy, on December 14, 2017, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, has greatly “affected” : for the first time, she visualized the wounds of children. “It was as if the reality was surfacing, whereas until now it had all been very theoretical for her”commented his lawyer, Me Jean Codognès, to AFP.
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Absent from the last two weeks of her trial, Nadine Oliveira, the only defendant in this case, was first admitted to cardiology, before joining a psychiatric hospital in Marseille. His lawyer hoped for an acquittal, but the prosecutor Michel Sastre had requested a five-year prison sentence, four of which were suspended on probation, accompanied by obligations of care and compensation for the victims.
He had also requested the cancellation of his tourist and passenger transport driving licenses, as well as a permanent ban on exercising a professional activity in connection with children. Because for the representative of the public ministry, this “tragedy” is indeed the result of a “mistake” of the driver, due to her inattention and recklessness.
Before the tragedy, Nadine Oliveira had taken this level crossing N.25 almost 400 times, and she had never seen it closed. During the investigation as at the hearing, she had always maintained that the barriers were open on the day of the tragedy, despite the expertise and certain testimonies, in particular that of a young girl sitting at the front of the bus. She also mentioned a “black hole” at the time of the accident. But “the problem with the file is not to know if the barrier was raised or lowered, it is to have the proof that it was lowered”insisted Me Codognès.
“The driver is already dead”
Many civil parties saw a form of denial in the driver: “It is not a question of disputing the suffering of Ms. Oliveira, but we would have liked that (this suffering) not be carried as a banner of his innocence but as recognition of his responsibility., had thus pleaded Me Marie Mescam, representative of the families of a deceased child and seven survivors. There are “lack of empathy” at Nadine Oliveira, but “I did not see in (his) attitude an absolute denial of what has been committed”qualified the prosecutor: she “says what his brain thinks is the truth”so as not to sink completely.
An analysis shared by one of the psychiatric experts who came to testify at the bar. This denial corresponds to “an unconscious defense mechanism”explained Françoise Grau-Espel, who had examined Nadine Oliveira just a month after the accident, in early 2018: “We can’t talk about lying or manipulation at all.” For one of the young victims, now almost of age and who lost a leg in the accident anyway, “the driver is already dead”. She is “imprisoned in itself”she had launched, through the voice of her lawyer.
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