The drink driver who caused the death of a married father of two has been sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated manslaughter, among other charges. Here are all the details.
Six people lost their lives in driving-related accidents on Monaco’s roads in 2023. One of them was Hervé Algarra, a husband and father of two who was killed on his way home from work at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort on 7th January when a drunk driver strayed on to the wrong side of the road in the tunnel leading to Port Hercule from Larvotto while driving at least 35km per hour above the speed limit. The driver collided head on with Algarra’s scooter. The victim died at the scene after going into cardiac arrest.
The trial
More than a year after the tragic incident, the trial of the Ukranian national who had been behind the wheel of the car that struck Algarra, identified only as Dmytro, took place in Monaco earlier this week.
The defendant, who is in his 40s, had been charged on five counts: refusing to submit to a drugs test, refusing to submit to an alcohol screening test, driving without insurance, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and aggravated manslaughter.
According to the Monaco Matin, the defendant told the courtroom, “I made a mistake, but I didn’t feel drunk, I felt capable of driving.”
See more: Record road deaths force Monaco Police to get tough on drink driving, but how?
At the time of the crash, Dmytro’s mother and his daughter had been travelling with him in the Mercedes G Class. The family group had been celebrating Orthodox Christmas earlier that day.
According to footage and documents presented in court, the defendant is understood to have continued driving a further 174 metres along the road before he stopped. He then got out of his car and examined the damage to the 4X4 before finally approaching Algarra with his phone in hand. At the end of the line was a friend, a lawyer, who had rented the vehicle to the defendant under suspicious circumstances that were later uncovered by investigators and have been connected to the charge of driving without correct insurance.
According to Monaco Matin, those in the courtroom, including Algarra’s widow, one of his sons and members of his extended family, were told that the defendant had committed a staggering 60 road and traffic offences in the three years prior to the accident, in France, Switzerland and Ukraine.
He had reportedly moved to the region, settling in Eze-sur-Mer, at the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war in early 2022.
Sentencing
Monaco Matin reports that Dmytro has been sentenced to five years in prison, handed a €2,000 fine for the insurance-related crimes and been banned from driving in Monaco for five years. The sentencing was more lenient than the punishments sought by the prosecution. His defense team will have 15 days to make an appeal. A civil interests trial date regarding a possible payout for damages has been set for 19th April.
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