French farmer wins damages over UnderpantsGate

A French farmer who became an internet sensation after being pictured storming out of his house in his underpants brandishing a spade to ward off bird conservationists won 10,000 euros ($12,000) in damages from French television on Wednesday.

The picture of a furious Jean-Marc Dutouya, clad in only a blue T-shirt and briefs, taking on the bird enthusiasts who sneaked into his cornfield in the southwestern village of Audon inspired a host of memes.

Twitter users dubbed the November 2015 altercation #SlipGate (French for "#UnderpantsGate") and super-imposed the picture of the angry farmer and hunting enthusiast over several famous images.

Among the mocked-up pictures were Dutouya brandishing his spade in front of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Another replaced the spade with a light sabre.

The confrontation was recorded by a TV crew accompanying journalist and birder Allain Bougrain-Dubourg and fellow members of the League of Bird Protection (LPO) on their mission to destroy traps laid to catch finches.

Despite being a protected species, the birds are still hunted in parts of France.

Dutouya's mother, who was in her 80s, was shoved during the skirmish while the journalists had the tyres slashed on four vehicles.

Dutouya was fined 400 euros in 2018 for violence with a weapon.

He in turn sued France Televisions, the public broadcaster which filmed the incident, for violating his privacy.

A court in the southwestern town of Dax awarded him 10,000 euros in damages on Wednesday -- a fraction of the 200,000 euros he sought.

Welcoming the ruling, Dutouya's lawyer Frederic Dutin said: "Can a man who is at home in his garden be thrown to the wolves in any old fashion? The courts say no."

The court also ordered France Televisions to pay his legal costs and to blur Dutouya's image on the footage, Dutin said.

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