The two men accused of having killed a bus driver in Bayonne in July 2020 will be tried at the Assizes for "
willful violence resulting in death without intention to give
it", decided this Friday, September 16 the chamber of the instruction of the Court of Appeal of Pau.
The magistrates confirmed the decision of the investigating judge who had dismissed, last May, the qualification of "
aggravated murder
" defended by the Bayonne prosecutor's office.
He had appealed.
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The two men, suspected of the death of driver Philippe Monguillot, will however be tried by the Assize Court of Pyrénées-Atlantiques because they are in a state of legal recidivism due to previous criminal convictions.
These two main suspects, who will be tried within a year, incur life imprisonment, with the aggravating circumstance that Philippe Monguillot was a person in charge of a public service mission.
A third man, who had housed the two alleged attackers after the fact, is also sent back to the assizes for having provided his assistance.
Finally, a fourth respondent was dismissed.
He was present at the scene but did not take part in any violence.
"A temple equal to the pain of the victims"
On July 5, 2020, Philippe Monguillot, 59, married and father of three adult daughters, was struck by two passengers after a ticket check.
Left brain dead, he died after five days in a coma.
The circumstances of his death had triggered a wave of emotion in Bayonne, where a white march had brought together 6,000 people, and aroused indignation in the political world, with the on-site visit of the Ministers of Transport and the Interior.
The council of the widow of the victim Véronique Monguillot and her three daughters welcomed an "
informed decision
" on Friday .
The Assize Court "
will be a temple to the height of the pain of the victims
", estimated Me Alexandre Novion, "
satisfied
" with the "
significant penalties
" incurred and the "
presence of a popular jury
", despite the requalification of the facts "
which will not prevent us from denouncing the relentlessness and violence of the beatings
".
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“
The court has validated the analysis that I have been doing since the summer of 2020, of a case of fatal blows and not murder
”, reacted for his part Me Thierry Sagardoytho, lawyer for one of the two main accused. cause, which hopes that future debates "
not be held hostage by media manipulation
".
His colleague Frédéric Dutin, who defends the other suspect, will plead for his client "
willful violence without reference to death
" because he "
is not at the origin of the fatal punch
" to the victim.
