A blow to the honour of Washington family
A direct descendant of George Washington was held last night in a New York jail, facing extradition to France on charges that he beat a man into a coma with a bottle.
John Augustine Washington V, a history student at Oxford University, is accused of smashing the bottle over the head of Colin Hall, a fellow American, on July 24 in a bar in the French resort of St Tropez.
He was arrested in New York this week after federal police were tipped off about his whereabouts. If extradited, Mr Washington will be tried in Draguignan, southern France, where he is accused of assault and battery with a weapon, which carries a possible five-year jail sentence and £53,000 fine.
Mr Hall, 36, underwent emergency brain surgery and spent five days in a coma after the attack at the Caves du Roy club. He had been chatting to Laura Clegg, a friend of Mr Washington.
Speaking about the attack for the first time, Mr Hall said yesterday: “I was as close to being dead as you can be without dying.”
He said that Mr Washington “has shown complete dishonour and cowardice, both by hitting me from behind and sneaking out of the country while I was in a coma”.
Read entire article at Times Online (UK)
John Augustine Washington V, a history student at Oxford University, is accused of smashing the bottle over the head of Colin Hall, a fellow American, on July 24 in a bar in the French resort of St Tropez.
He was arrested in New York this week after federal police were tipped off about his whereabouts. If extradited, Mr Washington will be tried in Draguignan, southern France, where he is accused of assault and battery with a weapon, which carries a possible five-year jail sentence and £53,000 fine.
Mr Hall, 36, underwent emergency brain surgery and spent five days in a coma after the attack at the Caves du Roy club. He had been chatting to Laura Clegg, a friend of Mr Washington.
Speaking about the attack for the first time, Mr Hall said yesterday: “I was as close to being dead as you can be without dying.”
He said that Mr Washington “has shown complete dishonour and cowardice, both by hitting me from behind and sneaking out of the country while I was in a coma”.