French hunter who shot and killed a British mountain biker, 34, while firing at a wild boar is jailed for a year
- Marc Sutton, 34, originally from Wales, was fatally shot in French Alps in 2018
- A 24-year-old French hunter has now been jailed for a year over the slaying
- He will also serve three years suspended, is banned from hunting for 10 years
- Three more hunters and one of their partners were punished for hiding evidence
A French hunter who accidentally shot and killed a Briton has been jailed for a year.
Marc Sutton, 34, and originally from Wales, was fatally shot with a rifle while cycling down a popular route high in the French Alps in 2018.
A 24-year-old hunter, who has not been identified, was sentenced on Tuesday after he admitted firing the fatal shot, which he said was intended for a wild boar.
The hunter was sentenced to a total of four years, three of them suspended, was banned from owning a gun for five years, and banned from hunting for ten.
A 24-year-old French hunter has been jailed for a year for fatally shooting Marc Sutton, 34, who was killed while cycling in the French Alps in 2018
He broke into tears as the sentence was handed down, according to French broadcasters France3.
Two other hunters, the father of one of them who had been on the hunt, and that man’s wife, were also given suspended sentences of between six and 18 months for concealing evidence.
A court heard that they altered hunting logs to make it appear as if they had not been in the area at the time, and later put up signs warning of a hunt to make it appear as if they had taken safety precautions.
Mr Sutton had lived with partner Jo Watts in the Haute-Savoie region of France for four years before he was killed on October 13, 2018.
The couple were well-known locally as the owners of two restaurants, one of them vegetarian, and were well-liked by customers.
Around 6.50pm on the day in question, Marc was heading down a steep but popular cycling route near his home when he was struck and killed by a rifle bullet.
An investigation found that Marc had been wearing high-visibility clothing and that visibility was good at the time he was shot.
Instead, investigators pointed to a litany of safety failings by the hunting party, including that they had failed to put up signs warning of a hunt in the area.
The largely inexperienced party had also failed to nominate a person to be in charge of the hunt, had not established a clear area for their hunt, had not completed the proper paperwork and were hunting within 500ft of homes, prosecutors said.
The hunter had said the rifle bullet which killed Mr Sutton (left, with his partner Jo Watts) was intended for a wild boar, but prosecutors pointed to a litany of safety failings
Investigators added that the hunter, taking aim at a boar, had not angled the shot towards the ground as is required, but had instead fired straight.
That meant, when he missed the shot, the bullet was able to travel far enough to hit and kill Marc, who had unknowingly cycled into the line of fire.
Frédéric Noetinger-Berlioz, a lawyer for the victim’s family, described the hunters as ‘pathetic and pitiful’ and called the sentence ‘balanced… in the circumstances’.
He added that hunting had not been the cause of Mr Sutton’s death, but rather ‘delinquent hunters who observed no safety rules’.
At the time of his death, Miss Watts paid tribute to a ‘kind, happy, loving man’ saying they had shared nine happy years together.
He was also described by those living in the French Alpine community they called home as ‘well-liked’ and ‘popular’.