They will not go before the assizes.

The two men accused of having assaulted and killed a bus driver in Bayonne in July 2020 will not appear before an assize jury: the investigating judge reclassified the facts as "willful violence resulting in the death without the intention of the give”, examined by judges in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

On July 5, 2020, Philippe Monguillot, 59, married and father of three adult daughters, was struck by two passengers after a ticket check went wrong, an assault "of extreme violence" according to the Bayonne prosecutor's office. .

Left brain dead, he died after five days in a coma.

A call from the prosecution

At the end of April, the Bayonne prosecutor's office had nevertheless requested the referral to the assizes for aggravated voluntary homicide of the two 24-year-old men, suspected of having fatally assaulted the driver.

But in his order of May 16, the investigating judge dismisses this qualification and chooses to refer the two suspects to a criminal court composed of professional magistrates, and not popular jurors.

The Pyrénées-Atlantiques are part of 15 departments that are experimenting with the "criminal court".

This judges without a popular jury crimes punishable between 15 and 20 years in prison, and leaves to the assizes those involving a heavier sentence.

In this case, the two men will risk up to 20 years in prison, the 15-year sentence being increased because they are accused of attacking a person in charge of a public service mission.

"It's a considerable slap in the face for the victims," ​​reacted Me Alexandre Novion, lawyer for the widow Véronique Monguillot and her three daughters.

For him, this choice is an "acquired benefit" for the accused, as if Philippe Monguillot "had died for reasons beyond their control".

The lawyer plans to appeal this requalification but the prosecution preceded him on Wednesday, stressing in a press release that the investigating chamber now had four months to rule.

Wave of emotion in Bayonne

The circumstances of his death had caused a wave of emotion in Bayonne, where a white march had brought together some 6,000 people, and caused the indignation of the political world, with the on-site visit of the Ministers of Transport and the Interior.

For Me Thierry Sagardoytho, lawyer for one of the two defendants, the examining magistrate, by dismissing the assizes, "returned" the file, and allowed its examination "far from popular emotion and unreason that ignited discussions in town and social networks.

A third man, aged 42, who had lodged the two alleged attackers after the fact, is also referred to this criminal court for having helped the two defendants to try to escape arrest.

A fourth protagonist, indicted for failure to assist a person in danger, was dismissed.

The two main defendants have been in pre-trial detention since July 2020. The third was released under judicial supervision in October 2020.

Justice

Bus driver killed in Bayonne: Aggravated voluntary homicide retained against the two suspects by the prosecution

Justice

Bus driver killed in Bayonne: Five hours of reconstruction, one year after the death of Philippe Monguillot

  • Justice

  • Aquitaine

  • Bayonne

  • Assault