A Dutch Michelin star restaurateur allegedly stood over his British sous chef for ten minutes before calling an ambulance after running him over twice with his Land Rover while drunk – it has been reported.
Nick Bril, 40, the owner of The Jane in Antwerp, allegedly stood over Joe Claridge, 37, who lost his legs and some internal organs after the accident, for ten minutes and eight seconds – before sending a text saying ‘I don’t think we’ll keep the intern’.
The accident is said to have happened in a private staff car park outside the two-Michelin-starred restaurant The Jane at around 6am on Monday, January 8.
The emergency services were only called after Bril was urged to do so by a second person and when they arrived, he did not reveal he had run the British man over, saying only that he was drunk, according to Dutch reports which say they are based on judicial sources.
This is despite the fact that he had been holding his phone because he previously took a photo of the victim on the ground, according to the reports.
Dutch Michelin star restaurateur Nick Bril (pictured in 2016, file photo) stood over his British sous chef for ten minutes before calling an ambulance after running him over twice with his Land Rover while drunk – it has been reported
Sous-chef Joe Claridge (pictured), 37, was seriously injured in the car park of The Jane – a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Antwerp, Belgium, at around 6am on Monday, January 8
Het Laatste Nieuws said it was told by judicial sources that the investigation also showed Bril even sent some shocking messages after the accident, according to Dutch media, with one saying: ‘I don’t think we will keep Joe as an intern.’
Bril reportedly sent a group WhatsApp made up of staff at The Jane gourmet restaurant the following message: ‘Guys, I just finished up with our new intern. Complete KO. An ambulance and the police, everything involved.
‘I don’t think we’ll keep Joe as an intern.’
Bril also reportedly told the authorities: ‘One glass of wine, then two negronis and two beers. Then I finished with a few shots of tequila with the team. I can’t say how many. I think I was still able to drive.’
Claridge was also reportedly drunk that evening as it was a Sunday, when the staff traditionally finishes off the opened bottles of wine and champagne. The afterparty then continued until the early hours and at 6am, with eight still people present.
His colleagues called Claridge a taxi and saw him stagger to the taxi stand in front of the restaurant as they departed, but at some point he fell to the ground.
CCTV seen by investigators reportedly revealed what happened next, although it does not show exactly how Claridge fell.
A short while later Bril appears, closing the restaurant door and heading to his Land Rover. At 6.20am, Bril reverses and turns his car around right where Claridge is lying.
He then stops, with Claridge lying between the front and rear wheels of the Land Rover, it has been reported.
Bril then drives forward and runs over the victim a second time with the same wheel, before driving on a bit before stopping the car.
The chef then reportedly got out and walked over to Claridge, with the footage showing the latter still moving on the ground.
Bril said that he tried to wake him up ‘but that didn’t work and I panicked.’
Bril reportedly sent a group WhatsApp made up of staff at The Jane gourmet restaurant (pictured in 2015, file photo) the following message: ‘Guys, I just finished up with our new intern. Complete KO. An ambulance and the police, everything involved
The Land Rover reportedly belonging to Bril is seen being towed away by authorities for examination after the accident in January
At 6.29am, a jogger appeared and spoke to Bril, wondering why an ambulance had not been called. The jogger told local media that Bril said: ‘I have a new phone and I can’t use it properly yet.’
The jogger then walked to the front desk of a nearby hotel and asked them to call the emergency services.
Bril does not mention the accident and instead portrays Claridge as simply a drunk man lying unconscious in the street.
Bril takes another photograph of Claridge before calling the emergency services as the jogger walks back from the hotel, precisely 10 minutes and 8 seconds after he noticed Claridge lying on the ground behind his vehicle, according to local media.
He reportedly tells them there’s a drunk man in the street, but again he doesn’t talk about running him over.
The ambulance arrived 10 minutes later, with Bril still not telling them about running Claridge over with his Land Rover.
The medics put Claridge on a stretcher and began caring for him in the ambulance.
They then noticed that Claridge is seriously injured and call the police.
Bril meanwhile is sitting in his car with the engine ready to drive off, with only the ambulance blocking his way.
The police however breathalysed him with 1.67 per millimetre of alcohol in his blood. The legal limit in the Netherlands is 0.5 per millimetre.
After the accident, Claridge’s mother immediately travelled to the Netherlands to watch over her son in hospital until he woke up from a coma 50 days later.
Claridge reportedly lost several organs and both of his legs had to be amputated.
Reports say he is still in hospital and a long rehabilitation lies ahead of him.
Bril is not only suspected of intoxication behind the wheel and the accident itself, the investigating judge is also looking into whether he committed negligence by not immediately providing assistance.
One of the medics who attended to Claridge told the authorities that they were angry with Bril, adding: ‘I felt very bad that he wasn’t honest with us. This may have had serious consequences for the victim.’
They added: ‘If Bril had said that the man had been hit by a car, we would have acted differently. Then we wouldn’t have put him in the ambulance immediately.’
Dutch cook Nick Bril poses for the photographer during the presentation of the 2023 edition of the French gastronomic guide ‘Gault et Millau’ for the Benelux region
Police cars are seen at the scene in January in the aftermath of the incident, which prosecutors are understood to be treating an accident
Omar Souidi, Nick Bril’s lawyer, told local media: ‘I cannot reach my client, Mr Nick Bril, at the moment. When I look at his social media, I suspect that he is currently still abroad (in a different time zone).’
He added: ‘I note that journalists today appear to have quicker access to a secret investigation than the parties directly involved.
‘If this is the case, it is shocking and a manifest violation of, among other things, Nick Bril’s rights of defence and the right to a fair trial.
‘Nick Bril also has his rights. I will advise him to claim them in full.’
When asked to comment, the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office told local media that the investigation is still ongoing and that communication about it is not yet an option.
