British woman shot and killed on boar hunt in France
A British woman has died during a boar hunt in Brittany.
Jacqueline Taylor, 67, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to her chest after a rifle which was being carried on the shoulder of one of the hunters was accidentally discharged.
The hunting party were passing through a field of maize at the time when the accident occurred. The incident took place in the commune of Goudelin in the Côtes d’Amour department of North Western Brittany. Boar hunting is a widespread and popular pastime in rural parts of Brittany.
A statement from the local public prosecutor’s office said that: “A wild boar hunt was organised that day, which brought together a dozen hunters, and two guests. The hunters were advancing through a field of corn silage when one of them, a 69-year-old man, in circumstances yet to be determined, fired with his shoulder-mounted rifle, barrel pointed back.”
Despite the best efforts of emergency services personnel the woman died a short while later at the Saint-Brieuc hospital. A 69 year old man named locally as Pierre Phillipot is in custody under suspicion of involuntary homicide. Prosecutors confirmed that immediately following the incident, he had been screened for alcohol and drugs and had tested negative for both.
Laurent Le Faucheur, Mayor of Goudelin, told local newspaper, Le Telegramme: “It’s a shock for us, it’s a couple we knew well.”
M. Le Faucheur said: “I was called quickly, I came right away, because inevitably, a hunting accident is a sensitive subject.”
Hunting fatalities are not uncommon in France. Earlier this year a 25 year old hiker was struck by a bullet while walking with friends in the Cantal region and in November 2021 a driver was struck and killed by a ricochet while on a dual carriageway. The French government have been attempting to reduce the number of hunting fatalities in France, however restrictions on hunting and even on alcohol consumption while hunting have been stubbornly resisted by French hunters.
