BRUSSELS – A Belgian court handed a one-year suspended prison sentence to a police officer on Friday over the shooting death of a two-year-old toddler who was in a van during a high-speed chase of suspected migrant smugglers.
The court in the southern Belgian city of Mons ruled that the police officer’s version of an accidental shooting was credible but also found that he had a share of responsibility for the child's death.
According to local media, the van’s driver was sentenced to four years in prison while another alleged smuggler was acquitted.
The smugglers were trying to reach Britain during the pursuit. In May 2018, police wanted to check on a suspicious van making its way through Belgium and gave chase when the driver tried to evade