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CRIME

Driver stabbed in Paris for beeping at red light

Parisians are known for their impatience when they get behind a wheel but for one driver in the French capital his irritation at being held up at a red light has left him fighting for his life.

Published: 23 July 2013 10:51 CEST
Driver stabbed in Paris for beeping at red light
File photo: Joybot/Flickr

A motorist was knifed in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris on Monday after beeping his horn at a fellow driver at a red light.

The violent confrontation took place on Rue Daumier just before 6pm.

A police source told AFP that the victim became impatient whilst waiting at a red light at honked his horn at the driver in front.

The other driver took offence and got out of the car to confront him and “at this point the situation degenerated”, the source said.

“The victim was stabbed with a knife four times, to the face, the abdomen and the knee,” the source said.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where his condition has been described as “critical”.

His attacker tried to flee the scene but was arrested a short while later near his home, French TV TF1 reported.

Police were able to track him down thanks to the registration number on the car.

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POLITICS

France to set up national prosecutor’s office for combatting organised crime

The French Minister of Justice wants to create a national prosecutor's office dedicated to fighting organised crime and plans to offer reduced sentences for "repentant" drug traffickers.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:02 CEST
France to set up national prosecutor's office for combatting organised crime

Speaking to French Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche, Eric Dupond-Moretti said he also intends to offer “repentant” drug traffickers a change of identify.

This new public prosecutor’s office – PNACO – “will strengthen our judicial arsenal to better fight against crime at the high end of the spectrum,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

Former head of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office Jean-François Ricard, appointed a few days ago as special advisor to the minister, will be responsible for consultations to shape the reform, the details of which will be presented in October, Dupond-Moretti said.

Inspired by the pentiti (repent) law in force in Italy, which is used to fight mafia crime, Dupond-Moretti also announced that he would create a “genuine statute” that rewards repentance.

“Legislation [in France] already exists in this area, but it is far too restrictive and therefore not very effective,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

In future, a judge will be able to grant special status to a repentant criminal who has “collaborated with justice” and “made sincere, complete and decisive statements to dismantle criminal networks”.

The sentence incurred by the person concerned would be reduced and, for their protection, they would be offered, “an official and definitive change of civil status”, a “totally new” measure, the minister said.

The Minister of Justice is also proposing that, in future, special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, be entrusted not only with organised drug trafficking, as is already the case today, but also with settling scores between traffickers.

This will avoid pressure and threats on the citizen jurors who have to judge these killings, he said.

Finally, the minister plans to create a crime of “organised criminal association” in the French penal code. This will be punishable by 20 years of imprisonment.

Currently, those who import “cocaine from Colombia” risk half that sentence for “criminal association”, he said.

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