The violence of the scene left its mark on them. “Both boys were full of adrenaline, in the grip of fairly unstoppable anger. » Witnesses, still shocked three years after the fatal attack on bus driver Philippe Monguillot in Bayonne, spoke on Tuesday in the stand of the fatal blows suffered by the two accused. Wyssem Manai and Maxime Guyennon are on trial until Thursday for willful violence resulting in death without intention of causing it.
The day after the broadcast, without sound, of video surveillance images to illuminate the Pau criminal court, passengers on the bus returned to the events of the violence. This July 5, 2020, around 7 p.m., the two accused, Wyssem Manai and Maxime Guyennon, boarded the bus driven by Philippe Monguillot with a third friend and his dog. During the journey, the group installed at the rear of the vehicle “mockery” the driver’s behavior after a small impact against a curb.
When a fourth individual joins the trio at a stop, the driver leaves his cabin to approach them and ask them to “put on a mask or get out”, say several of the witnesses heard. “The tone rose very quickly, there was a lot of tension, insults were said,” says Félix, a passenger who witnessed the scene. Wyssem Manai positions himself in a “face to face with the driver”. “They were looking at each other, it was very tense, there was a blank and the driver’s head shot went off.”
Witnesses in tears
The violence continues outside. “People were shouting for them to stop, the dog was barking,” Félix continues. Philippe Monguillot, who received blows on the ground, manages to get up and seems to want to move away. “We thought it was over, but we felt that the two boys were full of adrenaline, in the grip of quite unstoppable anger,” says the witness.
Vincent, a volunteer firefighter, is then alongside Philippe Monguillot, to whom he asks questions to ensure his condition. “His responses were those of someone disoriented. » It was then that Wyssem Manai, who had walked away, came rushing back to deliver one last punch. Witnesses recount the terrible impact of Philippe Monguillot’s skull against the asphalt.
“I still had him alive with me and in a split second, it was over,” says Vincent, sobbing. “It’s a memory that hurts me. When you are a first aider, you are not there to let people die.” “It’s an altercation that escalates”, “it happened out of nowhere and very quickly”, “no one reacts and it’s horrible”, says Félix again, in tears.