“These are war wounds”: the lawyer of the high school student whose hand was torn off in Lens explains why he was collecting debris

“Let’s go back to this sad October 5, 2026.” Young Evan's lawyers gave a press conference this Wednesday, October 14 to review the facts. The high school student, seriously injured in early October in Lens, “denies having picked up the grenade” which tore off his left hand and “denies any participation in violence”. That day, “Evan went to the high school to attend his classes,” says Maître Bertrand Wattez, a lawyer registered with the Dunkirk bar, before unfolding: he discovered on the spot that the establishment was blocked. Despite his desire to go to class, he cannot access the establishment.

“Fearing that his mother would think that he skipped classes that day, Evan began to collect debris from pyrotechnic devices used by the police,” explains the lawyer. “He thus wishes to be able to present to his mother, upon his return home, concrete proof of his presence near the school.” Maître Bertrand Wattez then looks back on the minutes that turned his client's life upside down: "At 10:30 a.m., as he was getting up after picking up a piece of debris with his right hand, an explosion occurred on his left side."

“His injuries are similar to war wounds”

deplores the high school student’s lawyer

“In shock Evan starts running without immediately realizing that the explosion has just taken his hand off. Alerted by high school students who informed him of the seriousness of his injury, the young man ended up collapsing,” according to the lawyer in charge of the high school student’s defense. He then gives news of the young man: “Evan, 15 years old, is at the CHR today, we don’t know when he will be released. One hand is amputated and the other hand is damaged.” Maître Bertrand Wattez condemns “injuries which are similar to war wounds.” He therefore immediately announced that a complaint with the constitution of a civil party had been filed “for acts of a criminal nature.”