The Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution are requesting 24 years in prison for the bus driver accused of killing Andreu Pujol, head of human resources at Autocars Plana, on the company's premises in the Riu Clar industrial estate in Tarragona. The popular jury trial is scheduled to take place at the Audiencia de Tarragona for a crime of aggravated murder.
The case revolves around a disciplinary meeting that was intended to inform the worker of a two-week suspension from work and pay, but ended with the death of a manager days later from a single punch. The prosecution maintains that the blow was deliberate, surprising, and executed with a force enhanced by bodily movements and the accused's alleged knowledge of martial arts.
The company summoned him for a sanction and the accused left the garage earlier
The events occurred on October 4, 2024, at the Autocars Plana base in Tarragona. The driver had been disciplined for alleged assaults on other workers, and the company had tried to inform him of the sanction on several occasions, including by registered mail, without success.
Weeks earlier, he had already been involved in another violent episode with a supervisor, to whom he allegedly threw a notepad in the face and expelled from the bus. On the day of the events, management told him not to start his route and to attend a meeting.
Nevertheless, the worker took the bus and left the premises. He later received a summons to return to the garage in the Riu Clar industrial estate.
Cameras recorded the blow and forensic experts link the death to the assault
When he returned, the accused approached Andreu Pujol without a word and suddenly punched him in the head, according to the prosecution's statement. The sequence was recorded by the company's security cameras.
For the prosecution, these images will carry significant weight in the trial because they capture the approach and the blow. They also maintain that the accused made body movements to increase the impact's force.
After the assault, he did not help the victim. He returned to the bus, collected his scooter, and left the scene while other workers attended to Pujol until the arrival of the SEM (Emergency Medical Services) and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police).
Andreu Pujol arrived at the hospital conscious, but died days later from severe brain injuries. The forensic reports incorporated into the case conclude that the death was a direct consequence of the punch and not of the subsequent fall to the ground.
The accused remains in Mas d'Enric and the family claims more than 918,000 euros
The case keeps the driver in provisional prison since October 7, 2024. He is interned in the Mas d'Enric penitentiary center, in the municipality of El Catllar.
In addition to the request for 24 years in prison, the victim's family claims compensation for direct relatives. In their brief, they request more than 918,000 euros for civil liability.
The private prosecution also requests bail of more than 1.1 million euros to guarantee these civil liabilities.