Justice for a Pompey fan ‘left disabled for life’ this following a Russian attack which came during the Euro 2016 tournament.
Two Russian men have ended up being jailed for attacking the fans who is also an England supporter after getting severely injured when violence broke out abroad.
55 year old Andrew Bache from Portsmouth, was left disabled following the attack in Marseille, France, his lawyer said.
34 year old thug Pavel Kossov was jailed for 10 years whilst Mikhail Ivkine, also 34, will spent three years in the cells by the court in Aix-en-Provence.
Hours of street fights broke out at Marseille’s old port following the Three Lions fixture against Russia on the 11th of June 2016.
The accused duo were among a group of Russian hooligans who “mounted an urban guerrilla offensive, like paramilitaries”, the trial was told.
Video footage was played in court, showing the Portsmouth fan being punched and kicked as he laid on the ground unable to defend himself.
During the violence, Mikhail Ivkine threw a metal chair at the England fan before Pavel Kossov shockingly knocked him down with a punch to the back of the head, the court heard.
Pavel Kossov then kicked him while a third unidentified perpetrator punched him as he laid vulnerable, the trial was told.
A medical expert, Michel Blanc, told the court it was a “wonder how [Mr Bache] is still alive”.
However, he said the initial punch from Kossov could not fully explain the victim’s “irreversible disorders”.
Kossov told the court he nudged at the England fan’s head with “a hand not a fist” while Ivkine said he was acting in self-defence.
Psychologists found that Kossov lacked empathy and “a grip of reality” while Ivkine, a sports teacher who has three children, passionate about ‘kick-boxing, traditional boxing and taekwondo, but also philosophy.’, was “neurotic”, the court was told.
The men were arrested in Germany during February 2018 while they were on their way to a Spartak Moscow match in Spain.
You dread to think if someone else suffered the same violence as 55 year old Andrew Bache from Portsmouth did.
Two Russian football fans have been jailed for 3 and 10 years after attacking and leaving England fan Andrew Bache disabled, during the riots at Euro 2016. 🏴🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/kimws5VeYb
— Casual Ultra (@thecasualultra) December 14, 2020
Hopefully the fan can watch his team win promotion from the League One table, after all he’s suffered enough.
Thankfully they are now doing time, away from the streets and stadiums and will hopefully learn from their mistakes.
Mr Bache’s lawyer said his client was too ill and ‘so physically and psychologically affected’ to give evidence at the hearing, which was attended by his son Harry Bache instead.
Speaking after the verdict today, Mr Olivier Rosato said: ‘It’s a decision that satisfies the family.
‘They wanted Kosov’s sentence to be severe because he was the first to punch Andrew, and from behind, causing him to smash his head on the ground, which was granite.’
‘The pictures speak for themselves. Throughout the day, the Russian hooligans mounted an urban guerilla offensive, like paramilitaries,’ Mr Rosato said.
‘They treated it like a combat sport.’
Bob Beech, co-ordinator of Pompey Pals Project, said the attack was tragic but the incident has shown the ‘real colours’ of people in Portsmouth who are showing support to Andrew Bache.
He said: ‘We send our thoughts and best wishes to him, nothing else really matters other than getting him a full recovery.
‘What happened was terrible. I think it’s a bit sinister to be perfectly honest.
‘We’ve seen things down the years at football matches whether it’s in this country or abroad but that was a little too well organised.’
He added: ‘We do this in this town.
‘That’s something we’ve got to be proud of in this city where we look after our own.
‘We always do and it’s great – but it’s sad that it always seems to be when something awful like this happens that we see our city in its real colours.
‘We close ranks, everybody knows this is a close-knit city and when things like this happen we do really try and help.’
Fans reacted after seeing that there was justice for the Pompey fan who was ‘left disabled for life’ following the Russian attack a few years back with the culprits now jailed…
@warlow: Just 3 years .. what a joke of a judicial system
Andrew Luckett: Geezers life is ruined and that’s all they get! Not just our justice system that’s a joke then!
David Yeomans: That’s as good as murder in my opinion if not worse
Chris Adamson: 3 years?? What the hell. They both deserve life
Harrison Monnelly Neves: 4 years later. should’ve been ages ago
Christopher Simpson: Keep the cnuts locked up
Johnny Rimmer: Taken that long to dish out pathetic Sentences?
Jose Rodriguez: Why are European punishments so soft? In America that’s at least 15-20 years in prison. If they have been arrested before for something similar its longer
Chris Lupton: Imagine if this was your husband or dad, and you found out the people who did this for 3 years and 10 years. Intentionally heading out to batter people and “accidentally” turning this guy into a cabbage, should serve a longer sentence than “in the heat of the moment murder”.
Jamie Steele: Not long enough, his life has changed completely and they’ll get 3 and 10 years? Utterly ridiculous.
Keith Harrison: Should be life sentences and we are the ones that get the blame all the time
Not long enough
— happyhaggis1958 (@scottf646) December 14, 2020
Slap on the wrists
— Ants (@Watkinson1889) December 14, 2020
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