A year ago Maxime Leroy, the supporter of FC Nantes, died and he stabbed: “his family has a lot of difficulty to survive”

Nice supporters near Beaujoire, in VTC cars, while an order provided that they would be picked up in Ancenis by the police and flown to attend the Ligue 1 match between FC Nantes and OGC Nice. A few hundred meters from the stadium, at around 8pm, on 2 December 2023, Nantes supporters attack the VTC car parade. The situation is getting worse. The VTC driver pulls out a knife and stabs Maxime Leroy, 31, twice. A member of the Loire Brigade and the father of a very young child, he died.

His parents, his brother want a trial as soon as possible

A year after this disaster, Me Aristote Toussaint, a lawyer for his parents and his brother (editor’s note: Me Cécile de Oliveira, for her part, defends the partner and daughter of Maxime Leroy) states that her clients do not want to express themselves. So their lawyer acts as their spokesperson. “Only a family that has died, that is really having a lot of trouble with this event is a family that is having a lot of trouble today.”

The family of Maxime Leroy, who is based in the vineyards of Nantes, wants a lawsuit a suspected killer arrive as soon as possible. Especially since according to their lawyer, the investigation made it possible to clearly establish the situation. A video was found by the police, although the VTC driver had tried to hide it. This man is also charged with intentional violence and tampering with evidence. He was placed under legal supervision. In these images, according to Me Toussaint, Maxime Leroy is enveloped when he is beaten. He received the second blow while trying to escape.

Video of the “too hard” scene.

“I’m glad that this video exists, because it allows us to show things as they happened, without any changes to the speeches. It is very clear. this video can be broadcast and show what really happened that evening.” Me Aristote Toussaint admits that, so far, his clients have not asked him to see this video: “It is a trauma. Think of a brother, parents, who see the death of their brother, their son, it is something inevitable (…) This video is obviously too hard.”

However, it is still for the family of Maxime Leroy “gray area” according to his lawyer : “How, when we have this convoy of six, seven, eight vehicles carrying Nice supporters, can we spend less than an hour before the game in front of the Nantes ultra supporters bar? It’s something that is unbelievable to my clients.”

The suspect denies any intent to kill

Many tributes were paid to Maxime Leroy by the Loire Brigade. A banner with his image flies at every game at La Beaujoire. A group of ultras under threat of release procedure by the Ministry of the Interior because of excess, on November 24. “My clients are very removed from Maxime’s support activities. So for them, it is not something that is important to them today. The fact that they are “removed”, today, a little more secondary than it is important for them today to know what could have been. How could their son die stupidly on a sidewalk in Nantes one evening in December?”

I called, Me Julien Plouton, lawyer at suspect – 36 ans– has not – at this stage – responded to our request. Less than three months ago, his request for release was rejected by the investigation chamber in Rennes. He is still in prison. The VTC driver has always denied that he intended to kill Maxime Leroy. This summer, at a new hearing, he admitted that the knife that was used belonged to him.

A year ago, during this disaster, the Nantes prosecutor’s office indicated that it had opened two investigations: one for the deliberate murder of Maxime Leroy; the other relates to the violence committed by Nantes supporters. Without any charges, the public prosecutor of Nantes trusted in October. Two VTC drivers approached the suspect’s lawyer to become civil parties so that they could be heard as victims.

The VTC driver then spoke of an “ambush”

A year ago, said David Tan, one of the VTC drivers who were present France Blue Loire Ocean which he and his colleagues had “they were attacked by a crowd of 300 Nantes supporters.” He then reported “ambush”.