QPR midfielder Ilias Chair has been sentenced to prison after being found guilty of fracturing a truck driver’s skull.
The Morocco international received the verdict from a court in Antwerp on Friday morning.
As reported by talkSPORT, he is set to serve one year in jail, as well as a further 12-month suspended sentence, and must pay the victim £13,400 in compensation.
As per the trial, the incident is said to have happened on a kayaking trip in Bazeilles, northern France, in the summer of 2020.
Chair, his brother Jaber, and friends are alleged to have got into a dispute with the driver, who prosecutors claim suffered a skull fracture two centimeters long after being struck by a stone.
The driver referred to as ‘Niels T’ in court, still feels the effects of the “almost fatal” assault. At a January hearing, Antwerp’s public prosecutor said: “According to many people involved, Ilias Chair lashed out at Niels T with a stone and knocked him unconscious.
“The consequences were dramatic for Niels T. He suffered a severe skull fracture, two centimeters long, and was taken to the hospital at Reims in critical condition.
“Afterward he had to recover for a long time in a Belgian hospital, and could not do his job as a truck driver for a long time.
“The blow was almost fatal for him, and he still feels the after-effects.”
Jaber was hit with a six-month suspended sentence and £700 fine. The court rejected pleas for a retrial on Friday. Chair debuted with QPR in 2017 and has made over 200 appearances, scoring 30 times.
The club reacted to the media reports and issued a statement, which read: “The club are, and have been, in regular contact with Ilias Chair’s legal team regarding a charge of assault which has been made against him.
“The legal proceeding is yet to reach its conclusion. As such, the club will be making no further comment at this stage.”
