2023-10-10 16:58:00
Express justice! A few minutes following the end of the witness hearings, the lawyers took the floor to rule on the guilt of Mickaël Van Haute, accused of the murder and rape of little Néva, aged 22 months, committed in Frameries, the night of 1 as of February 2, 2021.
A massacre!
Me Céline Parisse, lawyer for Néva’s mother, was the first to plead. The lawyer has no doubt regarding the intention to kill on the part of the accused. “He had a phone nearby, it didn’t stop ringing, but he never called for help […] Before losing his temper, he might have called his godmother, who lives two kilometers away, his brother, or even his partner’s godmother, who also lives two kilometers from rue Charles Rogier. He did not do it”.
According to forensic doctors, who testified behind closed doors, the little girl was beaten for a period of thirty minutes to an hour. “The worst part is that this massacre was preceded by sexual acts, committed before the eyes of Neva’s sister.”
The lawyer adds that her client suffered from having trusted “for twenty-four hours” in the man who killed her daughter, but also from the hate campaign to which she was the object on social networks, following of the media coverage of the facts. The mother had to be hospitalized in a psychiatric ward following the incident.
Horror movie
Me Mélissa Vervaeke, for Néva’s dad, spoke immediately. She compares this affair to a horror film for the little girl’s parents, with the main actor “who leads us for a ride from the beginning”.
The lawyer returned to the four versions proposed by the accused during the investigation. “When he was confronted with the statements of Neva’s sister, he replied that his mother had upset him.” We know today that the little girl said that the accused had hit her sister, before seeing her mother once more, on February 2 at the end of the day. So she mightn’t have gotten into his head.
No luxury of forgetting
Me Sylvia Benedetti represented the father during the proceedings before the family court. The separation took place during the first confinement and the dad had bad luck.
“The judgment fell at dawn of the first confirmation, and the meeting space closed for several months. He was supposed to see his children on February 1, but the appointment was postponed to February 3, 2021, the day following the events. When he was able to see his eldest daughter once more, it was in the hospital, while the little one feared the presence of men. This little girl, then three years old, experienced the horror and, unlike her tormentor, she did not have the luxury of forgetting everything. His statements and his non-verbal behavior were confirmed by the findings of the experts and deemed credible by the experts,” says the lawyer.
She adds that the forensic doctors declared that the injuries observed on the child’s body are compatible with being thrown once morest a piece of furniture, a strangulation maneuver and footprints on the thorax. The violence was extreme.
The objective elements of the accusation
Marc De Brackeleer, attorney general, requested the guilt of the accused for murder and rape with aggravating circumstances. The magistrate presented elements which all converge towards the guilt of the accused.
First element, the accused was alone in the house with two little girls. Mickaël Van Haute was responsible for looking following the daughters of his partner, who was hospitalized. During the followingnoon, he went to his godmother’s house with the two girls. The godmother is categorical, she saw no trace of beatings on the bodies of the two little ones.
Second element, the testimony of Neva’s sister, who described the facts in the words of a three-year-old child: Mick hit baby, Mick killed baby… “Do you think that a three-year-old child is capable of invent this? ”
Third element, the attitude of the accused. The attorney general doesn’t believe him when he says he no longer remembers the facts. “It’s just a refusal to cooperate, he remembers lots of surrounding details, he knows what happened, but he refuses to tell us.” He asserts that the accused has only lied, and that he continues to do so, “he claims a loss of memory when he is faced with difficulties”.
L’intention d’homicide
The link between the blows and death is established by forensic doctors, the child died of head trauma. The blows were carried out intentionally. There remains the homicidal intent. The accused implemented means leading to death, indicates the representative of the general prosecutor’s office. In this case, he dealt numerous blows to the child’s head and body. His fist and feet became a weapon. Neva was hit all over her body, “with relentlessness, incredible violence”.
The Attorney General cannot accept the balance of power between the aggressor and the victim. He believes that the accused accepted the consequences of the actions taken, what in law is called dolus eventualis.
Finally, he estimates that the ordeal lasted several hours, with no attempt at resuscitation.
Rape
Question number two, relating to rape, is contested by Mickaël Van Haute. However, the testimony of the forensic doctors, behind closed doors, was damning for the accused. For forensic doctors, there was penetration, the hymen is deformed. “All the injuries are objectified, they are concomitant with the facts, when he is alone with the kids”, affirms the general advocate.
Finally, the Advocate General considers that the aggravating circumstances are established: Neva was vulnerable, she was under sixteen years old, her attacker was her mother’s partner, he therefore had authority over her, in the absence of their mother .
The defense will take the stand tomorrow.
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