Three years in prison were required Thursday in Nancy against the former Lens footballer Tony Vairelles, tried on appeal since Tuesday with three of his brothers for violence at the exit of a nightclub in 2011. The same sentence as that pronounced against him at first instance.
The Deputy Attorney General, Bernard Marchal, requested the same sentences as at first instance for all the protagonists: from one to three years in prison for the Vairelles brothers, and three to four months suspended imprisonment for the three Nightclub security guards. The decision was reserved for July 6.
Without omitting the “physical and professional sequelae“of each other, the prosecution has endeavored to underline “the certainties of the file”. Either “three people injured by bullet in a very short period of time“: Carlos Di Napoli was shot in the stomach, his brother Baldassare was shot twice in the hands, and their colleague Peter Gerdum was injured in the thigh.
“We know that it was during the clash between the Vairelles brothers and the Di Napoli brothers that the bullets were fired, there is no doubt“, underlined Bernard Marchal.
The Vairelles clan puts forward the thesis “of a mysterious shooter, who would have defended them without anyone seeing him?“, asks Mr. Marchal again. “No weapon was found at the scene. However, it is known, due to the caliber of the bullets found, that at least two shooters acted“, he adds.
It’s not a ready-made clan, no, it’s hard-working, united people, who have a taste for sport and who respect the rules.
Lawyer for Tony Vairelles
Highlighting the personalities of the different protagonists, “brawlers“for the Vairelles”according to the reported words of some members of their family“, and opposite”security guards, who in 15 years in the business have never had a single conviction“, the prosecution concludes that the first have for “mode of functioning a clannish behavior“, which caused them to make themselves”private justice” on the vigils.
Me Virginie Barbosa, lawyer for Vairelles, pleaded for the release of the four brothers, stressing that her clients, described as “brawlers“by some, have yet”no locker“, a speeding ticket and a neighborhood quarrel at most.
“Psychologists say they have no impulsiveness or dangerousness“, she adds.”It’s not a ready-made clan, no, it’s hard-working, close-knit people who have a taste for sport and who respect the rules.“
“In this file, the only point where the security guards and our clients agree is on the presence of a fifth man.“, recalled Me Frédéric Berna, who also defends the Vairelles with Me Barbosa. “But we still don’t know who it is, but I don’t have this claim and it’s not my role“, he concluded, recalling in passing the catastrophic nature of an abnormally long investigation.
Speaking last, Tony Vairelles wanted to exclude his father from any involvement in this disastrous evening, some having suggested that he could be the mysterious fifth man: “It’s sullying his memory to insinuate that, he was a respected and respectable person.“.
Me Mathieu Schwartz, lawyer for the bouncers, had also pleaded for release for his three clients.
Tony Vairelles and his brothers were accused of having opened fire and injured the three guards in the parking lot of a nightclub in Essey-lès-Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in October 2011. The former player has always proclaimed his innocence.
Imprisoned for five months at the start of the investigation, he was sentenced at first instance, in May 2022, for “violence in meetings, with premeditation and with a weaponto five years in prison, two of which were suspended.
In 2022, Tony Vairelles returned to this conviction in an autobiographical book, “Balls in the center“.
The footballer was selected eight times for the France team between 1998 and 2000. Famous for his “mullet cut“, he had passed through Lens, Lyon, Bordeaux, Bastia and Gueugnon.
With AFP
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