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Reduced sentence for officer who shot two-year-old Mawda

13:37 05/11/2021

The police officer who fired the bullet that killed a two-year-old transmigrant in 2018 has had his suspended sentence reduced on appeal. The officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by a court in Mons earlier this year.

The court gave the officer a one-year suspended sentence. He appealed, and that sentence has now been reduced to 10 months by an appeals court. As the sentence is suspended, the officer is likely to see no jail time, in any case. He must also pay a fine of €400.

The case revolved around Mawda, a toddler who was travelling through Belgium with her parents and older brother on their way to the UK. The police were in pursuit of the van full of transmigrants on the E42, when the officer leaned from the speeding car and pulled the trigger, hitting Mawda in the head. He was intending, he said, to shoot the tyre of the van but was jostled off balance.

In the meantime, Mawda’s parents and their lawyers are still trying to get a parliamentary investigation launched into the entire incident. The police intervention itself was chaotic, and the police reports that followed were rife with contradictions.

Photo: The officer (left) at a courthouse last February
©Benoit Doppagne/BELGA

 

Written by Lisa Bradshaw

Comments

Anon3

These people were fleeing safe country Germany and illegally making their way to the UK for the big handout. They should be prosecuted for endangering the life a child. They were armed. The policeman's shot was very sad but the parents also need to be held accountable.

Nov 8, 2021 14:49