a VTC driver indicted for intentional homicide

Two VTC drivers were indicted on Monday, December 4, including one for intentional homicide and extortion with a weapon, two days after the death of an FC Nantes supporter, stabbed on Saturday on the sidelines of the Ligue 1 match against OGC Nice, announced in the evening the public prosecutor of Nantes, Renaud Gaudeul.

The person concerned by the indictment for intentional homicide was incarcerated “waiting for the debate” on the pre-trial detention required by the prosecution, the man having requested a delay. The second VTC driver was indicted and placed under judicial supervision for intentional violence at the scene of the brawl and for tampering with evidence, according to the prosecutor.

Shortly before 8 p.m., Saturday evening, “at least six vehicles” transporting Nice supporters from the city center of the capital of Loire-Atlantique to the Beaujoire stadium had been attacked “by a significant number of FC Nantes supporters”, explained the prosecutor. The way in which the Nice supporters were identified is still unknown.

The first driver admitted, while in police custody, to having hit the victim with a knife, to defend himself. He claims to have acted with a weapon belonging to a supporter present at the scene.

The autopsy of the victim, aged 31, revealed two injuries “compatible with the use of a bladed weapon”, one at the shoulder, the other on the thorax, said the prosecutor. The supporter died at the scene of the attack despite the arrival of emergency services.

Record deleted

A video recording of the scene shows the perpetrator “struggling with several Nantes supporters”a weapon in his hand, according to the prosecutor. “He pushes back an individual who falls to the ground and gives him a first stab. The supporter gets up, tries to flee, and is then stabbed a second time”he clarified.

By accompanying his three passengers to their hotel after the incident, the 35-year-old man also allegedly asked them “several hundred euros” for the damage suffered by his vehicle. “Fearing for their lives”the supporters complied and withdrew “a sum of around 1,000 euros”, he continued. The driver’s criminal record is “four mentions”in particular for drug trafficking, said the prosecutor.

The second driver, initially interviewed as a witness, was finally taken into custody after investigators realized that the video recording his vehicle was equipped with had been erased.

However, a memory card containing the recording was found at his home. This one “gives a fairly precise description of the scene” And “allows you to see that blows have been struck” by this driver “apparently with a telescopic baton”explained Renaud Gaudeul.

Prohibited perimeter

The prosecutor also requested the opening of an investigation into aggravated violence and destruction, particularly of vehicles, concerning the Nantes supporters who were at the scene.

At the end of last week, the prefect of Loire-Atlantique issued an order regulating the movement of Nice supporters in Nantes. “The avenue in which the brawl took place is within the prohibition zone”according to the prefecture.

Monday morning, the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, estimated on France Inter that it was preferable “to stop [en ce qui concerne] supporter travel » in the case of a risky match, comments which have been approved by the boss of the Professional Football League (LFP).

FC Nantes and the minister expressed their ” pain “ and sent their condolences to the loved ones of the deceased supporter, just like the LFP.

In Nantes, members of the Brigade Loire supporters group, to which the victim belonged, painted a “Max forever” fresco on Sunday on a low wall near the scene of the tragedy in memory of their comrade.