Bus driver killed in Bayonne: the accused escape the assizes


The two main suspects, who killed Philippe Monguillot on July 5, 2020, no longer risk life imprisonment. The victim’s wife, Véronique Monguillot, said she was “devastated”.

The investigating judge in charge of the case of the murder of Bayonne bus driver Philippe Monguillot decided on Tuesday to reclassify the proceedings against the two main suspects, 24 and 25 years old. They are now judged for “intentional violence in a meeting resulting in death without intention to give itin a criminal court.

This does not include popular jurors. The maximum sentence in this jurisdiction is twenty years of imprisonment, unlike life in a conventional assize court. In April, the Bayonne prosecutor’s office had nevertheless requested the referral to the assizes for aggravated voluntary homicide.

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In addition, two men aged 36 and 42, also tried in the case, for failure to assist a person in danger, have seen their legal fate changed: the youngest is no longer prosecuted, while the second is no longer prosecuted. prosecuted only for having lodged the defendants after the attack.

On July 5, 2020 in the early evening, Philippe Monguillot was savagely attacked by two passengers, when he wanted to check their ticket. Inside the bus, the tone had risen and after an initial fight, the driver was taken out of the bus, where his attackers beat him up. A fall to the ground after a punch had resulted in a fractured skull and hemorrhage. Transported to hospital, Philippe Monguillot had died after five days of treatment, causing great emotion across France. Last January, one of the two main aggressors had also asked for his release, finally refused by Justice.

I do not understand anything anymore! I am devastated!»

Asked by Le FigaroVéronique Monguillot, widow of the victim and mother, expresses her total incomprehension: “frankly with a file like that, how can we requalify the facts?“She wonders in reference to the indictment of the prosecution. “We followed the procedure from the beginning, we are appalled, we are bruised once again“She reasons, before quoting again”strong arguments for dismissal, in the file. There are harrowing black-and-white testimonies, but it will turn into a brawl affair gone wrong?says the driver’s widow indignantly, her voice choking. She interrupts herself … then cries frankly: “I do not understand anything anymore! I am too devastated! This morning one of my daughters goes to her BTS exam, again destroyed by what we learn! They can’t do this to us!“. The woman, who maintains the memory of her husband in particular through an association, appeals to the government which should be appointed this week: “The ministers [des précédents gouvernements] had spoken of an abject crime, had said that the perpetrators had to be severely punished! The government must act!“.

At Figaro, Alexandre Novion announces to appeal the decision of the instruction. “The case aroused great popular indignation, but the chosen angle is to remove the jurors. But even if we pull out the brambles of passion and focus on the facts, there is enough evidence to justify the defendants being tried for murder, that is to say to obtain a decisive public debate. if the intentions are murderous. The facts point in the direction of doubt“, continues the lawyer, who returns to “the chain of violence that has been observed, which shows that these people have been hardliners, concentrating their blows on the face. We also have a demonstrative soundtrack about their intentions» he underlines.


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