Here these images of the fatal attack on bus driver Philippe Monguillot, which occurred on Sunday, July 5, 2020 in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), are broadcast on the courtroom screen. Until then, we only knew the detailed transcript as it appears in the order that sent Wissem Manai, 24, and Maxime Guyennon, 25, to the Criminal Court of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in Pau, on charges of violence. intentional. resulting in death, without intention to cause it. The broadcast of these videos from the bus surveillance cameras, on the second day of the trial, Monday, September 18, took everything away.
The worried face of Maxime Guyennon and the wise appearance of Wissem Manai (white shirt, black pants, wide-rimmed glasses) have been replaced by the image of idle, drunken friends from three years ago, with bleached blonde locks and screwed caps. the back with dyed red hair and a thick gold chain for the other, slumped in the back of the bus, a can in his hand. To their lost gazes today, crushed by the seriousness of the events they are accused of, those with whom they had received the bus driver who came to check on them responded, laughing and provocative. To the clumsy, confused and swallowed words with which they tried to explain the outbreak of violence that followed… “It happened too quickly”, “I didn’t even calculate”, “I was distraught, I didn’t understand anything”, “I never wanted”, “I reacted badly, I was drunk”, “If only I could go back…” – The image of the bloody face of Philippe Monguillot, in a state of brain death, was superimposed on the screen.
The first image that appears on the surveillance cameras dates back to the beginning of the afternoon of Sunday, July 5. The solid and elegant silhouette of Philippe Monguillot, in shorts and a T-shirt, walks towards the back of the bus on which Wissem Manai and Maxime Guyennon have just boarded. Control. They don’t have a ticket. The driver accompanies them to the dealer and patiently guides their movements on the keys. The exchange is calm. End of the first sequence.
Distraught faces of passengers
Five hours later, on the same bus, we see them again in the back seats, where they have been joined by two other young people, just as drunk as them, one of them with a dog. New control by Philippe Monguillot, by his arm extended towards the door it is understood that he is ordering them to get down. The tone rises, the driver sees himself surrounded, the faces get closer. He then delivered a brutal headbutt to Wissem Manai who, with the help of Maxime Guyennon, grabbed him and threw him outside while kicking him. The rest of the scene takes place partially outside the camera field, but its violence can be read in the panicked faces of the passengers, who run in all directions. Until these last seconds, when Philippe Monguillot reappears, walking next to the bus with an unsteady step. Wissem Manai emerges, enraged, and delivers the final fatal punch to his face, causing him to fall with all his weight, violently hitting the back of his head against the pavement.
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