On the 30th of April of 1987, Patrick Dils, 16 years old was accused for the murder of two boys in Montigny-lès-Metz, in Moselle. On the 27th of January of 1989, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder. On the 24th of April of 2002, his innocence was recognized; he spent 15 years in jail. The French government gave him one million euros (of which 700 000 euros in compensation) for judicial mistake. This is one of the most serious judicial mistakes recognized in France and it’s the first one concerning a minor sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.
On the 28th of September of 1986, two children, Cyril Beining born in 1978, and Alexandre Beckrich, were found dead alongside a SNCF track in Montigny-lès-Metz. Patrick Dils, 16 years old, a trainee cook was questioned because he was living in the same street as the victims and he was denounced by an anonymous call. His timetable did not match with the hour of the murder indicated by the coroner so he was released. On the 28th of April of 1987, following a new testimony which reconsidered the murder hour indicated by the coroner, he was taken in for questioning at the end of his day working in a restaurant of Montigny-lès-Metz. Further to 36 hours of custody and police interrogation which lasted a few days, he admitted the murders and stated that he didn’t know the reasons of the crimes. On the 30th of April of 1987, he was charged with voluntary homicides and sent to the prison of Metz-Queuleu. He gave a different version to his attorney but the investigating judge organized a reconstruction on the 7th of May during which he still admitted the crime. Moreover, he recognized the rocks which served for the crime. This fact convinced the judge of his guilt. According to his parents, he didn’t realize the importance of the procedure. But, on the 30th of May of 1987, he wrote to his attorney to modify his declarations. On the 27th of January of 1989, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder by the minor crown court of Moselle. They didn’t take into account that he was minor, however, the excuse of minority which was constantly presented to the jury would have permited to divide the sentence by two (for the current law but at this time, being a minor would have only reduced the sentence to a maximum of 25 years). For the first time since April 1987, his parents were allowed to see him for 5 minutes in a corridor controlled by policemen. Victims’ parents said that they would have preferred the death penalty for Patrick Dils (abolished in France for minors in 1980 and then fully in 1981).