Bayonne bus driver attackers’ trial death in pictures

Here they are projected on a courtroom screen, these images of the fatal attack on bus driver Philippe Mongillo, which took place on Sunday, July 5, 2020 in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Until then, we only knew a meticulous transcription, as seen in the order sent to 24-year-old Vissem Manay and 25-year-old Maxime Guenon in the Court of the Pyrénées-Atlantique Association, in Pau, on charges of intentional violence. which caused death without intending to cause it. The broadcast of these videos from the bus’s surveillance cameras took everything away from the second day of the trial, Monday, September 18.

Maxime Guenon’s worried face and Vise Manay’s wise-cracking appearance – white shirt, black trousers, wide-brimmed glasses – have been replaced by images of the idle and drunken friends of three years ago, for one with bleached blonde locks and a top hat. Red-dyed back of hair and a thick gold chain for another, leaning against the back of a bus, can in hand. Today, their lost looks, with the seriousness of the facts they are accused of, were responded to by smiling and provocative people who greeted the bus driver who came to check on them. The clumsy, confused, swallowed words with which they tried to explain the outburst of violence that followed— “It happened so fast”, “I didn’t even count”, “I was angry, I couldn’t hear anything”, “never wanted”, “I had a bad reaction, I was drunk”, “If I could go back…” – The screen showed the bloodied face of Philip Mongiou, who was in a brain-dead state.

The first image that can be seen on surveillance cameras is dated July 5, Sunday afternoon. In Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, the hard and rugged silhouette of Philippe Mongillo walks to the back of the bus that Vissem Manay and Maxime Guenon have just boarded. control. They don’t have a ticket. The driver takes them to the distributor, patiently guides their movements on the keys. The exchange is smooth. End of first row.

Excited faces of passengers

Five hours later, in the same bus, we see them again in the back seats, where they are joined by two other drunken youths, one of them with a dog. New control comes from Philip Mongillo, an arm outstretched toward the door as he orders them to come downstairs. The tone rises, the driver appears around, faces close together. He then violently head-butted Vice Manay, who, with the help of Maxime Guenon, grabbed him and kicked him outside. The rest of the scene takes place partially off-camera, but its violence is readable on the panicked faces of passengers running in all directions. Until this last moment, when Philippe Mongillo reappears, walking with uncertain steps along the bus. Vise Manai comes out, enraged, and delivers a final fatal blow to the face, causing him to fall with all his weight, the back of his head hitting the pavement violently.