In France, wearing the headscarf by Muslim women is a crime and is justification for being denied education. However, the attempted murder by this motorist deserves only a fine of 500 Euros. It is the French version of a just and enlightened society...

Jon Henley in Paris
Thursday March 18, 2004
The Guardian

A French motorist has been given a three-month suspended prison sentence for doing his level best to run over a pedestrian he mistakenly identified as Osama bin Laden.

The self-employed man of 35, named only as Pierre, was found guilty in the southern city of Montpellier on Tuesday of pursuing his intended victim through several red lights and then into a pedestrian zone.

The pedestrian only narrowly avoided being mown down when the car finally ran into a wall.

The driver's lawyer, David Mendel, said yesterday that his client had been traumatised by last week's terrorist attacks in Madrid and had fallen prey to "a temporary hallucination" while driving through the city's historic centre on Monday.

The court ordered the driver to seek psychological treatment and pay his unharmed victim, a man in his 30s, €500 (£334) in damages.

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