Law & Order

Reckless Driving and Brutal Violence to an Employee Test the Judges Wisdom

Hit and Run Sports Car Hospitalizes a “Lollipop Man”

Sometimes referred to as “lollipop men”, they stand with a stop sign and direct traffic. If you accidentally don’t stop when prompted – and knock them over instead – a lawyer just might use this argument as part your defence: “it is against the law to imitate a policeman”! It is unlikely to sway the judge who will be rightly concerned for the victim. This is exactly what happened when a worker was helping a large articulated lorry make a turn onto a building site in Monaco – and also paying attention to the safety of surrounding pedestrians. 

An iconic sports car, in a hurry, appeared to ignore his signal to stop and forced its way past running over his heel in the process. The resulting injury caused a visit to the hospital, extended treatment to the heel and 14 days off work. The driver of the sports car was portrayed as an executive receiving a generous income and uncaring about the incident but the prosecution was unable to prove that he actually “gave the finger” to the victim as he drove past. The culprit was lucky to get off with a 600 euro fine, just 100 euros more than his defence lawyer had proposed – perhaps because all the worker’s sick days and hospital care were covered by insurance.

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Brutalizing a Bar Employee Attracts An Exemplary Fine 

The owner of a night bar in Monaco was accused by his employee of having brutalized him and having humiliated him before dismissing him. The manager accused him of having stolen from the cash register, allegedly grabbed him by the neck and throttling him, hitting him while throwing him out. The defence argued that the employee had provoked the manager by insulting him and that the case should just be considered as an accident at work. The violence was portrayed as a slap. Nevertheless a hefty fine of €5,000 was anticipated; the employee had to visit hospital and was off work for 5 days with his injured neck. The prosecution caused a stir by recommending a fine as high as €15,000. That startled the defence, who argued it was just a tussle and the fine should be proportionate. After deliberating the court sentenced the defendant to a fine of €10,000 and reported it also as a work accident in anticipation of a potential civil claim.

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A Car Crashes Into a Disabled Person on a Pedestrian Crossing

A motorist, who was travelling on a main boulevard in Monaco did not see the pedestrian appear. Worse still it was at a pedestrian crossing and the young man she hit was autistic. 

It was in the middle of the afternoon and the driver claimed to be surprised by the victim who was running across the road on the crossing. Fortunately, the injuries caused were not severe resulting in an “incapacity” of five days. But the incident was a tragedy for the parents as the victim suffered from severe hearing problems and was unable to express himself. The defendant, shocked by this accident, estimated that she was driving slowly: no more than 30 km/h. Even so, it was somewhat of a miracle that the injured young man did not have broken limbs.

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The prosecution asked for an expert report, a provision of 15,000 euros and 25,000 euros for material damage. The court made its decision immediately and handed down a fine of 1,000 euros and called for an expert report, plus the payment of 5,000 euros to the civil party. The Court granted the defence’s request not to formalize the decision as a criminal conviction. 

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