Russian thugs who attacked Portsmouth's Andrew Bache at Euro 2016 are jailed

Andrew Bache, known as Pepe, was left disabled after Russians Mikhail Ivkine, 34, threw a metal chair at him and Pavel Kossov, 34, punched him in the back of the head before kicking him on the ground.

A third attacker punched him, a French court heard during the trial centring on the violence that erupted on the day of the England-Russia match on June 11, 2016.

Kossov was jailed for 10 years and Ivkine for three for the attack in Marseille, France.

Around 150 paramilitary-style Russian thugs were behind the targeting of English supporters on the day.

The BBC reported that medical expert Michel Blanc said it was a ‘wonder’ that 55-year-old Mr Bache ‘is still alive’.

The attack in 2016 shocked Portsmouth, with friends and family fundraising for Mr Bache.

His brother, Dean Bache, tweeted to say Spartak Moscow funded Pepe’s attackers.

Following the jailing, he said: ‘I hope your tough little boys and their families are suffering.’

His attackers were arrested in Germany in February 2018 on the way to Spain for a Spartak Moscow match.

Detective Superintendent Andy Barnes led the United Kingdom Football Policing Unit’s investigation into the Marseilles violence.

The AFP said the detective told the trial that nothing linked Mr Bache to hooliganism or violence at the time of the incident.

Mr Bache’s lawyer, Olivier Rosato, spoke out after the two Russians were sentenced.

According to the Mail Online he 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.’

A French officer, Patrice Martin, gave CPR as Mr Bache suffered a cardiac arrest.

He sustained extensive life-changing brain injuries and a lung infection and was left in a coma.

Hampshire’s own football unit officer, PC Stuart Dickerson, was handed an award from the Royal Humane Society for his actions in saving Mr Bache’s life.

PC Dickerson had been deployed in the Old Port area of the city where the attack happened.

The officer previously told The News: ‘Out of the injured, he was the worst.

READ NEXT: Scores join fundraising match in Portsmouth for injured Pompey fan Andrew Bache

‘We had to pull our police bibs on and help the French paramedics who arrived at the scene.

‘I soon found one of his friends and managed to find out how he was injured, which made it easier, and I had to translate to the paramedics.

‘There was a point where I did think the worst – a defibrillator was used for half-an-hour.

‘It was upsetting but the training kicked in over there. It was like a war zone when it happened.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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