On February 27, a member of a rival biker club and three of his relatives were seriously injured leaving a restaurant in Palavas.
Handshakes and virile embraces in the box, watched very closely by about fifteen very muscular prison officers. Emotion and tears in the ranks of the public, where relatives came in large numbers. The trial of four members of the Bandidos Club MC of Montpellier, prosecuted for aggravated violence, association of criminals and possession of weapons for two of them ended with a curious scene, Monday, July 25, at the judicial court of Montpellier.
Brass knuckles and pools of blood
The four men, who claimed their innocence, were nevertheless all found guilty of having planned and executed an ultra-violent attack on February 27 in Palavas-les-Flots. That Sunday evening, while he was leaving a beach restaurant, right bank, a biker from another club, the Black Bloc 1% UDG and three of his relatives were beaten up by five individuals with masked faces. , who went wild. “The photos are very impressive, there are large pools of blood on the ground” details President Errabih.
The teeth and the broken arm
The damage too, probably caused by brass knuckles: the biker loses consciousness, his friend has two teeth and a broken arm, his wife is bruised. Striking detail: the jacket in the colors of the Avignon biker club is lacerated. But he himself was previously a member of the Bandidos before leaving them on bad terms: for the gendarmes, the clue is crucial.
An international criminal organization?
“Internationally, this biker club is known to be a criminal organization” explains the magistrate. “I’m not saying that’s the case here, but they still claim to be outside the law.”
The cars of two of them were seen leaving Palavas at high speed five minutes after the attack. And the searches at the homes of the suspects and at the headquarters of the club, in Saint-Jean-de-Védas, are rather positive.
Revolver, cocaine and ammunition
6.35 caliber ammunition at Stéphane Humbert, a 1.98m colossus with a tattooed arm, nightclub bouncer. A revolver of the same caliber at Benjamin Pedemonte, who has the rank of “sergeant-at-arms”, that is to say responsible for the security of the club. Cocaine and a Colt 45 at Yohan Nozaïque, the president, who also runs a restaurant, and brass knuckles at the club.
“We were supposed to have a party, when I arrived I was told it was canceled, I went home” affirms Sébastien Sobecki, the fourth defendant, who is an executive at the SNCF, to justify his passage to Palavas.
friends and beers
“I don’t want to hear about the bike and this club anymore, I haven’t been there for a year”, assures the president for his part. “We don’t do anything except go have a beer with our friends, if that’s criminal…”
“This aggression is frightening” notes the prosecutor André Dutil, who claims five years in prison with a partial reprieve against the four men.
“A huge problem of evidence”
“When you belong to a club where you have ranks and you are co-opted, are you necessarily part of an armed band?” protests Me David Mendel, in defense of the giant physiognomist, and who denounces “A file with holes disguised with mythology. This is the first time in my life that I have seen a criminal gang declared in association under the 1901 law.”
For Me Marc Gallix, lawyer for the president of the Bandidos, “We have a huge problem of proof in this case. We know very well that they are not here like the American clubs. If you find them guilty, you need a sentence which is a huge warning, because for them it is the first time.”
After thirty minutes of reflection, the court follows the lawyer’s idea: four years, three of which are suspended for the railway biker and his bouncer sidekick, five years, four of which are suspended for the sergeant-at-arms and the president. The firm part, it will be done at home with an electronic bracelet: the four men are released as soon as they return to prison. And obviously, none will appeal.
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