Morgan Keane Chasseur trial

[Liz]

Morgan Keane was shot dead whilst pruning trees on his property in Decemeber 2020.
This morning I am following with interest the trial of the presumed killer of Morgan Keane, a hunter, and the Directeur of the battue, being reported live in la Dépêche du Lot.
So far it's not looking good for the hunters.Some of the Tribunal Président's comments are very sharp.
https://www.ladepeche.fr/2022/11/17/dir ... 807163.php

[Blaze]

As his brother says, what was Morgan's life worth if nothing changes ?
Whilst the killer has confessed, the directeur de la battue still insists they were properly organised.
However well-organised the chasseurs say they are, there are still too many who ignore or break the rules.
It's time there were national laws concerning the chasse rather than decisions being made at departmental level.

[niemeyjt]

As said before - a shotgun for birds and a rifle for sanglier and deer are just totally different weapons.

Maybe training and licencing and rules need to be separated - and even a case of hunting either or - not a mixture of both? Treating a rifle that is capable of killing at 2kms as if it were a shotgun is a recipe for disaster.

[MAD87]

All of the above + chasseurs are often rather cavalier about the rules - in our last place, our woods (which started about 50 metres from the house) were full of spent cartridges, until one day a sign appeared on the road boarder saying "réserve de chasse", after which hunters stayed away.

[Liz]

Audience now ended, the verdict to be delivered on 12 January.

Two interesting points :
How far does the responsibility of the Directeur de la Battue extend?
Should this novice hunter, who'd only had his licence approved that summer, have had more supervision?

[Blaze]

@Liz
Two interesting points :
How far does the responsibility of the Directeur de la Battue extend?
Therein lies the problem of laws/rules/regs/decisions made at departmental/local level rather than on a national level. As things stand at the moment, I believe the Directeur de la Battue should be fully responsible for the actions/behaviour of the chasseurs under his direction particularly because he is on the spot. If he doesn't take responsibility, who can ?
Should this novice hunter, who'd only had his licence approved that summer, have had more supervision?
Definitely, without question.

[MAD87]

I think the answer to the 2nd (easier) question is yes.
As for question 1 - what does the Directeur de la Battue do? Just organise the cull and then sit in his van and wait for his mates to return? The buck has to stop somewhere. Presumably he knew he had a novice on the team, armed with a dangerous weapon. According to the procureur "Le tireur a déjà réalisé, avant le drame, trois ou quatre tirs en commettant des infractions : déplacement non autorisé, chasse sur le terrain d'autrui et tir dangereux en direction du village de Calvignac." A cowboy!
Just seen Blaze's post and agree.

[Hotrodder]

I'm still amazed that there are so many hunters that can't tell a two-legged human from a four-legged animal. Perhaps simple recognition of the difference should be part of the test for a license then an annual checkup at the French version of Specsavers.

[niemeyjt]

I'm still amazed that there are so many hunters that can't tell a two-legged human from a four-legged animal. Perhaps simple recognition of the difference should be part of the test for a license then an annual checkup at the French version of Specsavers.

At 2 kms range? With foliage in between? I am not sure I could.

[Hotrodder]

If that was anything like the distance the bullet covered before hitting the man the shooter must have been aiming quite high to account for the effect of gravity on horizontal projectile motion. This leads me to think the boar might have been hiding in a tree if the weapon was aimed high enough to hit a human 2km away.