Euro-2016: 3 and 10 years in prison for two Russian supporters who attacked an Englishman

The Assize Court of Bouches-du-Rhône sentenced Mikhail Ivkine and Pavel Kossov to 3 and 10 years respectively, two Russian supporters found guilty of leaving an English fan in Marseille for dead, during violent incidents on the sidelines of a Euro-2016 match.

Detained since February 2018, like his compatriot, after his arrest in Germany, when he wanted to follow Spartak Moscow on the move to Bilbao, Spain, Mikhail Ivkine should be freed "by the end of the week", his sentence being almost covered by pre-trial detention, said his lawyer, Me Julien Pinelli.

Pavel Kossov will however find his cell.

Less severe than requisitions

Portsmouth supporter Andrew Bache was in Marseille on June 11, 2016 for the England-Russia clash.

But he was absent Monday in Aix-en-Provence, for the outcome of a trial started a week ago.

Crippled for life, traumatized, this 55-year-old man has no memory of coming to France for the Euro.

Only his son, Harry, had made the trip, the first two days of the hearing, to bear witness to his father's ordeal.

The verdict, pronounced after four hours of deliberation, is less severe than the requisitions.

Friday, the Advocate General had asked for "between 14 and 15 years" in prison for Kossov, the maximum incurred for willful violence resulting in permanent disability.

And a sentence "not more than five years" for Ivkine.

For Christophe Raffin, the charge of some 150 Russian supporters, near the Old Port, was "a raid, like a paramilitary commando", by "

football

": "And no, it was not self-defense , but of the illegitimate smash, the smash of Mr. Andrew Bache ”.

A third unidentified aggressor

On the images, from surveillance cameras or social networks, the responsibilities seem clear.

At 5 and 20 seconds, Mikhail Ivkine throws a chair towards Andrew Bache.

But this one is only touched on, as proved by a last video unveiled by his defense.

Then Pavel Kossov throws him a violent punch in the head, from behind.

Groggy, the fifty-something collapses on the pavement, like a rag doll.

This blow probably caused "a short circuit" in the victim, "like a knockout in boxing," a medical expert explained Thursday, wondering "how Mr. Bache is still alive".

But, still according to this expert, the main damage was undoubtedly caused by a third Russian supporter, the one we see delivering a second punch to the head of Andrew Bache while he is on the ground, inanimate.

Problem: he was never identified.