British woman, 86, who reversed into French villager, 85, crushing him against a camper van avoids jail despite showing ‘real contempt for the victim’ by fleeing the scene

By JAMES REYNOLDS

Published: 11:41 BST, 30 April 2025 | Updated: 11:45 BST, 30 April 2025

A British woman who fled the scene after reversing into a pensioner avoided jail time, receiving only a fine and a six-month suspended sentence.

The woman from Plymouth was sentenced in absentia by the Rennes Criminal Court in France on Tuesday for ‘running over’ a man in his eighties during a stay in Brittany.

Prosecutors had requested a ban on driving any motor vehicle in France for three years, after she initially faced ‘three years in prison’.

The woman, now 86, reversed without looking into the victim, then 83, trapping him between her campervan and his vehicle, witnesses told.

The victim was later found by police bleeding and suffering severe pain from six pelvic fractures, with the driver nowhere to be seen.

The prosecutor argued it was ‘shocking’ the driver did not come forward or ‘even contact him to find out the state of health’ after the September 2023 incident in Bain-de-Bretagne.

This showed ‘real contempt for the victim’, lawyer Kevin Descamps-Guezou said, saying she should have at least ‘stopped to understand the commotion’.

File photo. A woman was sentenced on Tuesday for her involvement in the 2023 incident

The driver, who was arrested as she tried to return to the UK that November, admitted to having caused the accident but denied that she fled because she had been told to leave.

Separately, she said she had not seen the man, now 85, despite witness statements to the contrary, France 3 reports.

The victim was said to have been trapped between the two vehicles in front of his wife, who heard his screams.

A witness said that she probably did not understand what had happened.

Somebody at the scene was said to have shouted out ‘go, go, go’ as they tried to free the victim from between the vehicles.

The woman then left the Pommeniac rest area and was only arrested as she tried to cross the Channel nearly two months later, on November 4, 2023.

‘She may not have understood, but she knows she did something,’ Mr Descamps-Guezou argued.

General view of Dinan, Brittany. The woman was arrested upon trying to return to the UK

The public prosecutor had requested a ten-month suspended prison sentence and a ban on driving for three years, noting the defendant would ‘soon be 87 years old’.

She was ultimately sentenced by the Rennes Criminal Court to a six-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay an initial ‘advance’ of €4,000.

The fine will go towards the victim’s compensation, with an appraisal underway to put a figure on the total amount of damages to be paid.

The victim did not have his own lawyer at trial, France 3 reports.

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British woman, 86, who reversed into French villager, 85, crushing him against a camper van avoids jail despite showing ‘real contempt for the victim’ by fleeing the scene

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