We came close to tragedy on January 22 at a campsite in Rochefort. A father born in 1973 stabbed his son twice, hitting him in the neck and stomach. The man is being prosecuted for attempted murder and faces five years in prison. In any case, this is the sentence that was required by the Namur prosecutor’s office, which did not oppose the probationary stay, this Wednesday morning before the Dinant criminal court. “The day had started well”, says the public prosecutor ironically. “The defendant and his son started drinking at 9:30 a.m. But around 8:00 p.m., what had to happen happened.”
Father and son were indeed well known to the Rochefortoise police. In six months, fifteen police interventions were carried out at their home because they regularly came to blows. Both are alcoholics. On the day of the events, the first city had 2.76g of alcohol per liter of blood. “I had been living there for a year and a half. He and his partner followed me and I supported them, while I had custody of my other 7-year-old son and only received an income from mutual insurance. I regularly asked them to leave the place. But that evening, I don’t even know what caused the argument. I don’t remember much. When I came to my senses , I had a knife in my hand and my son was screaming”, details the father of the family.
For the Namur prosecutor’s office, the homicidal intent is established. “In a hearing, he claimed to have intended to harm his son. He therefore accepted the possibility that his death would occur.” The public prosecutor also highlights the location of the blows and the statements of the victim’s companion, present at the time of the facts, which evokes the relentlessness of the defendant. After a stab wound, the latter notably declared: “this time, it’s planted.”
A thesis opposed by the defense, which is asking for a disqualification for intentional assault and a probationary reprieve. The moral intention to kill did not animate his client. Judgment June 15.
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