Bond stuntman convicted over film shoot death

One of France's leading stuntmen, Remy Julienne, was handed an 18-month suspended jail sentence Tuesday for his role in the death of a cameraman during a car chase scene shot in Paris in 1999 - reports the Inquirer.

The 77-year-old Julienne, who devised high-speed chase scenes for six James Bond movies and the 1969 caper "The Italian Job," was stunt driving coordinator for the spectacular sequence in the French action comedy "Taxi 2."

During the scene, a stunt car fitted with special foils to make it briefly lift off the ground came speeding out of a tunnel and became airborne.

Intended to land in a pile of cardboard, it sailed past its mark and hit the 41-year-old French cameraman Alain Dutartre, who died hours later of massive head injuries.

Found guilty of involuntary homicide and causing bodily harm, Julienne was also fined 13,000 euros ($18,000 ). The film's executive producer Bernard Grenet was cleared of the same charges.

Charges were dropped last year against both the film's director Gerard Krawczyk and its producer Luc Besson.

The "Taxi" series of police action movies, filled with extravagant stunts and rapid-fire banter, have been huge box office hits in France.

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