Sentenced to 18 months in prison for violence at the exit of a nightclub in 2011, Tony Vairelles saw his appeal rejected by the Court of Cassation. However, his sentence is subject to reduction, and he will not return to detention.
The Court of Cassation on Tuesday rejected the appeal of former footballer Tony Vairelles against his 18-month prison sentence for violence outside a nightclub in 2011. The former French international, now aged 51, was sentenced in July 2023 by the Nancy Court of Appeal for shooting at the security guards of a nightclub in Essey-lès-Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in October 2011.
His sentence of 18 months in prison, accompanied by a five-year ban on carrying a weapon, is subject to change and will therefore prevent him from returning to prison, where he spent five months at the start of the investigation. The former Lens player had appealed to the Court of Cassation, as had his three brothers Jimmy, Giovan and Fabrice and the three bouncers, all convicted in this case.
Security guards claim Tony Vairelles is the shooter
The Court of Cassation “notes that there is, in this case, no means of allowing the admission of the appeals”, according to its decision rendered on Tuesday. In a decision of March 12 consulted by AFP, the highest court of the French judicial order also rejected the priority questions of constitutionality (QPC) raised by the Vairelles brothers. They have always proclaimed their innocence.
According to their version, the two young brothers had been thrown out of the nightclub, assaulted by three security guards. They then returned to the scene with their two older brothers, Tony and Fabrice. Shots were fired by a “mysterious shooter” according to the family’s version, whose “clan-like functioning” was noted by the prosecutor. The security guards claimed to have identified Tony Vairelles as the shooter.
