France crash driver spared jail

Eric Williams made ends meet by doing odd bits of carpentry

A Sussex builder has been found guilty of causing the death of an English expatriate in a car crash while driving on the wrong side of a road in France.

James Lee, 33, of Hook Lane, Bognor Regis, was driving a van in March 2007 when it collided with a car driven by Eric Williams, 58, in Taillebois.

He received a five-month suspended jail term after being convicted in his absence at a court in Argentan.

Mr Williams, 58, had previously lived in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

'Paltry sentence'

His sister, Val Weedon, from Chatham, in Kent, said she was "bitterly disappointed" at the sentence.

"I cannot believe that such a paltry sentence can be imposed for a crash which caused my brother's death."

She described Mr Williams as a "loner, an ageing hippy and an accomplished musician" who made ends meet by odd bits of carpentry.

Mrs Weedon, 57, said the case had consumed the lives of her family as they tried to understand the French legal system.

Four lagers

"It has been so hard not having any sort of closure, it has been a rollercoaster. We are not after any vengeance.

"If it was just a tragic accident then we would not want [Lee] to suffer, but the fact that he did not even bother to turn up to court shows he does not care," she said.

Official statements from the French authorities released to Mr Williams's family stated that Lee had been in France for three weeks, had limited experience of driving on the country's roads and had drunk four lagers at a restaurant before getting behind the wheel.

At the hearing at the Tribunal Correctionnel of Argentan on Tuesday, Lee also received a 500 euro [£373] fine.

It is understood that he will receive notice of the judgment and has 10 days to appeal.