A gendarme was killed in France on Monday evening when a driver ran him over at a routine roadside checkpoint in Provence.
The driver of the BMW was an intoxicated 39-year-old from Cape Verde who during his time in France has racked up a lengthy criminal record including ten convictions, two for drunk driving.
On Wednesday the wife of 54-year-old Éric Comyn paid tribute to him at a service attended by local dignitaries and members of the gendarmerie. She described a devoted father of two teenage children, who was soon to retire after 30 years’ service.
Madame Comyn is the latest in a growing list of grieving relatives in France who refuse to go quietly into the night
Madame Comyn’s tone then changed from grief to anger. ‘I say it loud and clear: France killed my husband because of its inadequacy, its laxity and its excessive tolerance.’
She pointed to the driver’s previous convictions and expressed her disbelief that he had never been imprisoned.
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