Ilias Chair: QPR midfielder who fractured truck driver's skull after brawl handed prison sentence in Belgium

QPR star Ilias Chair, who fractured a truck driver's skull following a brawl during a kayaking trip four years ago, has been sentenced to prison in Belgium. The 26-year-old midfielder was given a 12-month suspended sentence and was also ordered to pay the victim £13,400.

Chair, who debuted in 2017 for the Rangers, showed remarkable progress following a loan stint with Stevenage during the 2018-19 campaign. Throughout his career, he has made 222 appearances for the club, contributing five goals and four assists in the Championship this season amidst the team's battle against relegation.

QPR, in a statement, did not comment further on the sentencing. It said: "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."

According to Daily Mail, Chair, alongside his brother, Jabeur and a group of friends, had an argument with the driver in Bazeilles, France, in the summer of 2020. It was heard in the trial in Antwerp, his home town last month, that all those involved were waiting for a bus back to Belgium after the trip when the incident happened.

While queueing to board the bus, another woman in a green bikini lashed out, "hitting, scratching and biting" others as she demanded to be the first onto the bus. The prosecutor said: "This led to a discussion with other people who were waiting, including the later victims, Niels T (the driver), his sister Eline T and Dries D...The woman in the green bikini behaved very aggressively and things quickly escalated. The woman lashed out at the victims and their children."

A huge brawl is claimed to have broken out, with a man, thought to be Chair, grabbing a rock and hitting Niels T, who became unconscious. Chair denied being the one who used the rock and requested a retrial, which was reportedly denied.

The prosecutor said Niels T suffered a severe skull fracture, two centimetres long, and was taken to hospital at Reims in critical condition. Niels T's lawyer said: "My client almost lost his life, and it took surgeons to save him. He was unable to work for a long time, and still suffers adverse reactions every day to having been hit with a rock."

Chair's brother, Jabeur was handed a six-month suspended sentence and a £700 fine.