SORRY I SHOT A BRIT
Boar hunter on killing charge
A HUNTER has apologised for shooting dead a Brit he mistook for a wild boar.
Julien Feral fired the fatal shot at Morgan Keane, 25, as he chopped wood near his home in Calvignac, southwest France. A lawyer for Morgan’s family said the shot “passed through his lungs and heart”. He added: “He spent 15 minutes dying... he drowned in his blood.”
Feral, 35, told a court in the nearby town of Cahors: “I recognise my mistake and I regret it. I am sincerely sorry to the family. There is not a day that passes that I don’t think about it. It’s marked me for life. I’m sorry.”
He also admitted that he had not “identified the target” when he hit Morgan in the chest in December 2020.
He had fired four times at a wild boar earlier that day, but missed.
The judge asked: “You shot when there were roads and houses everywhere? Four times? And nobody said anything. It wasn’t where the accident was but that was a miracle.” Hunt organiser Laurent Lapergue, 51, said it was “perfectly controlled, but perhaps not 100%”.
Both he and Feral are on trial for involuntary manslaughter. They face up to three years in prison and a £65,500 fine if convicted.
A verdict is expected on January 12.