French bus driver faked assault in ploy for paid leave

CERGY-PONTOISE, France – A 23-year-old bus driver in suburban Paris was handed a 6-month suspended prison sentence Friday, December 19, 2014, for staging his own assault in a ploy to obtain paid sick leave. 

With the aid of a masked colleague cast as his attacker, the driver claimed to have been assaulted on his route in the northwest Paris suburb of Goussainville December 13. The driver told police he had been beaten by the assailant after thwarting the intruder’s supposed attempt to steal the bus’ cash box.

Despite the presence of a security camera in the bus that caught the scene, police sources told Agence France-Presse that the victim’s testimony contained “several aspects that weren’t credible.” An investigation established that “the aggression was in reality staged with the help of a colleague.”

Taken in for questioning Thursday, the driver quickly confessed and was convicted Friday for “reporting a fabricated crime,” and “attempted fraud” in seeking to obtain paid leave.

His supporting actor colleague was also given a 6-month suspended sentence for “complicity.”

In January, two employees of national railway SNCF were convicted of fabricating attacks in order to secure paid recovery time. – Rappler.com