Belgian prosecutors seek 1.5-years for Dutch celebrity chef who ran over trainee

Belgian prosecutors are seeking one-and-a-half years in prison, a three-month driving ban, and a 4,400 euros fine for Dutch celebrity chef Nick Bril, who ran over British trainee Joe Claridge twice in January 2024, leaving him critically injured and without both legs.

The accident occurred early on Monday, January 8, 2024, in the parking lot of Bril’s two-Michelin-star restaurant, The Jane. Bril, 41, had attended a New Year’s party after work and drank heavily, including wine, two Negroni cocktails, two beers, and several tequila shots. Around 6 a.m., he drove his Land Rover Defender over Claridge, who was lying on the ground after also drinking. Bril first ran over him backward, then forward. Claridge spent six weeks in a coma.

Two hours later, a breath test showed Bril had 1.75 promille of alcohol in his blood.

A passing jogger told AD, “I saw a man on the street lying and a man standing nearby. I inquired what was going on. I saw that the victim was very badly injured. I noticed vomit and his pants had fallen down.” The witness said Bril offered no clear explanation.

Paramedics said, “The doctor felt his chest and heard only cracking. Usually people talk too much, but with Nick Bril we had to ask everything to know something.”

Bril told the court, “I am not here to pretend to be an innocent person or to act as if I am. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about the facts.” He added, “I can only imagine how the last years have been for Joe. My respect for you Joe and for your loved ones.”

Claridge was not in court for medical reasons and preferred to spend Christmas with family. His lawyer said Claridge had fallen while waiting for a taxi. “A sober, normal driver would have seen him lying on the road,” he added. The lawyer criticized Bril: “On video it is clear Joe still moved. Yet Bril waited nine minutes before notifying emergency services. To a jogger who passed by he said there was someone extremely drunk on the ground. He did not say he had run over him.”

Prosecutors said Bril appeared drunk, addressing responders as “sweetheart,” and accused him of wanting to flee. Bril’s lawyer, Omar Souidi, argued for acquittal: “He has not seen that he ran over Joe Claridge. That is crucial. Slow action, not perfect action, is not the same as no action. Moving your car is logical; you cannot stay in place and flee at the same time. He stayed and cooperated.”

Bril said he only realized what had happened while in the police car: “It is difficult to hear that I would have done that consciously.”