Trial Postponed for Suspect in French Bus Driver Murder Case After Deportation

Mohamed Akrafi will not be tried this Tuesday. Accused of housing the two murderers of Patrice Monguillot, a 59-year-old bus driver, his trial before the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Court of Assizes has been postponed to a later date. The reason being that the 44-year-old Moroccan is cited in another judicial proceeding. Illegally residing in France, Mohamed Akrafi was deported to Casablanca on March 21, reports France Bleu. The man in his forties was found guilty of several offenses and sentenced for theft and failure to comply in Alès (Gard) in January 2024, it is specified.

The postponement of Tuesday’s trial surprised the Moroccan’s lawyer, Me Sandrine Larié, who was "ready to plead his case before the Court of Assizes". The date of the new hearing has not been communicated. Mohamed Akrafi is being prosecuted for "concealing criminals from arrest" for housing Wyssem Manai and Maxime Guyennon, the two murderers of the Bayonne bus driver, Philippe Monguillot. Due to proven psychiatric disorders, he had not been tried during the trial of the two murderers on September 21, 2023.

Aged 25 at the time of the events, Wyssem Manai and Maxime Guyennon were sentenced to 15 and 13 years of criminal imprisonment respectively by the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Court of Assizes for beating Philippe Monguillot, married and father of three daughters, to death. It all started with a first dispute related to a ticket check, followed by a second altercation about wearing a sanitary mask. The driver, who had assaulted one of the murderers by headbutting him, was beaten by the two young men. He died after five days in a coma at the hospital.