European court orders France to compensate killed traveller's family

France has been ordered to pay compensation to the family of a gipsy killed by a police officer while trying to escape in 2008, in a judgement by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday.

Draguignan Open access/Edouard-rainaut

The European court ordered 50,000 euros to be paid to Joseph Guerdner's widow and his three children, 10,000 euros to his mother, 5,000 euros each to his brotehrs and sisters and 2,500 euros to his aunt.

Guerdner, born into a French family of travellers 1982, had been arrested in the southern town of Draguignan in connection with an inquiry into a case of kidnapping and armed robbery.

The court found that the officer could have used other means to prevent his escape but threw out the family's claim that the inquiry into his death had not been independent not his trial impartial.

In 2010 court in Draguignan acquitted the gendarme, ruling that he had acted within the law.