The story of this night from October 30 to 31, 2018, judged by the Criminal Court of Liège, is absolutely sad. Axel Leroy, a student in the automotive bachelor’s degree at the Haute-Ecole de la Ville de Liège, a great rugby fan and very much in love for two years, was having his baptism at the time. That evening, a somewhat special evening was organized for him, which is called the “godfathers’ rally” and which consists of stopping in a series of bars to drink blue water, each time , their most alcoholic specialty. The organizers of this kind of evening are aware of the associated risks, since it is customary, explained the godfathers, that they do not drink alcohol while their blue consumes it in large quantities.
Axel had been bought by five godfathers, a 24-year-old Herstalien, a 22-year-old Lierneusienne, a 25-year-old Arlonais, a 24-year-old Libramontois and a 24-year-old resident of Orp-Jauche, who are the five defendants. The beginning of the evening had been very convivial, everyone had gone to one of them to eat a raclette, and they had gone down to the Carré around half past midnight. But following a series of steps, Axel felt very bad. He tried to make himself vomit, but he mightn’t. Seeing him stagger more and more, his godparents had decided to bring him back, and they had phoned Axel’s girlfriend to tell her that they were coming with him. But while crossing the boulevard de la Sauvenière, the young man had collapsed. He ended up vomiting, and that’s how he choked, explained the medical examiner at a previous hearing.
We do not blame the five godfathers for not having reacted well at that time: they had put their friend in a lateral position of safety, and they had called for help. But they are prosecuted for the two hours during which Axel drank a (too) large quantity of alcohol, too quickly. In this case, explained the expert toxicologist, alcohol can become even more toxic.
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