Two years after the death of Morgan Keane during a hunting accident, the trial against the hunter responsible for the fatal shot opens this Thursday, November 17, 2022 in Cahors (Lot). Back on the drama and the stakes of the trial.
Morgan Keane’s death dates back almost two years but is reigniting the debate around hunting again this Thursday, November 17, 2022. The tragedy that affected the 25-year-old young man is still on everyone’s mind in Cahors, in the Lot, where the trial begins. The hunter responsible for the fatal shooting and the director of the hunt tried for manslaughter go before the court from today. If the two men face up to five years in prison and 75,000 euros in fines, the legal fallout could be more extensive at the end of the trial. More than the fatal accident that cost the life of Morgan Keane are all the hunting accidents and the hunting activity itself that could be judged in the eyes of non-hunters. A scenario that hunters fear, especially since for several years the supervision of hunting has been singled out, in particular the absence of more restrictive rules.
How did Morgan Keane die?
The circumstances of Morgan Keane’s death, which occurred on December 2, 2020, have been established by the inquest. The 25-year-old young man was chopping wood about ten meters from his house in Lagarrigue, a place in the town of Calvignac in the Lot department when he was fatally hit in the chest by a bullet fired by an Aveyron hunter from 33 Years. The shooter had explained that he thought he saw a wild boar, recognizing in fact with confusing the young man with game. The hunter who fired the shot presented himself spontaneously to the gendarmerie and then indicted for manslaughter, along with the director who was in charge of the hunt. The victim’s brother, Rowan Keane had then indicated that they went regularly to this place and that several times they had passed between the bullets of the hunters.
What to expect from the hunting accident trial?
Almost two years after the events, the family of Morgan Keane is still affected by the tragedy and still blames the hunter responsible for the death of the young man. If the relatives of the young man hope that an exemplary sanction will be pronounced, they especially wish that the judgment will not relate only to the isolated accident but will make it possible to review the supervision of the hunt for obvious reasons of safety. Me Benoît Coussy, lawyer for Rowan Keane, the victim’s brother, awaits like his client an “apology during the trial” and hopes that aggravating circumstances will be retained reports France 3 Occitania : “It’s a homicide, in a setting where the rules have not been respected. It shoots without knowing what it shoots”. During the trial, the lawyer intends to plead for “a hunting moratorium” involving “more restrictive rules” and recognition “of a hunting crime”. It is therefore everyone in the hunt who could be shaken by the death of Morgan Keane.