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Father sentenced for attempted murder-suicide at Swiss ‘Grand Canyon’

The Local
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Father sentenced for attempted murder-suicide at Swiss ‘Grand Canyon’
Photo: The Local

A father has received an 18 months suspended sentence for attempting to kill his son along with himself by jumping off a cliff.

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Last July the desperate man took his then two-year-son to the Creux-de-Van in the Jura mountains – known as Switzerland’s ‘Grand Canyon’ – with the intention of jumping off with the boy in his arms. 
 
Police were alerted after the 29-year-old dad posted a message on Facebook which sounded like a goodbye. 
 
Arriving at the scene, officers spent 40 minutes talking to the man as he stood on the edge of the Creux-de-Van with his son in his arms, according to Jura news website ArcInfo
 
They finally succeeded in talking him down. 
 
A regional court in the Val-de-Travers yesterday sentenced the man to 18 months, suspended, for attempting to kill his son before abandoning the act.
 
The court said he must adhere to strict rules, including only being allowed to see his son under supervision. 
 
With its 160m high cliffs, the horseshoe-shaped Creux-de-Van has previously been used as a suicide spot. 
 
In 2015 a Frenchman who lived in the area leapt from the cliffs with his two children – a girl of three and a boy of two. All three died. 
 
Around the same time the body of another woman was found at the base of the canyon after a presumed suicide.
 

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