LUC BESSON - BESSON'S COMPANY FINED FOR MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

BESSON'S COMPANY FINED FOR MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

French director LUC BESSON has been forced to pay $140,000 (£93,330) via his production company after a Paris appeals court found executives responsible for the death of a cameraman on the set of TAXI 2.
Alain Dutartre, 41, died after he was struck by a car when a stunt went tragically wrong in 1999.
Bosses at Besson's firm EuropaCorp were initially cleared of all charges when Dutartre's family took them to trial in 2007. Instead, stuntman Remy Julienne, was held solely responsible for the botched scene and handed a suspended 18-month prison sentence.
But the Paris court of appeal reversed the ruling on Monday (29Jun09) and found EuropaCorp heads guilty of manslaughter. Julienne's punishment was reduced to six months, and his fine was slashed by $15,460 (£10,300) to just $2,810 (£1,870).
EuropaCorp producers were criticised for rejecting Julienne's offers to trial the car scene in question for a price, which the stuntman claims would have prevented the tragedy.