Johnny Catherine

Who was Johnny Catherine?

Johnny Catherine was a French kickboxing champion from French overseas department of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

In 1997, Catherine was the world's top lightweight kickboxer.

On 27 December 2004, Catherine was murdered on his home island. It was established during the trial that a group of seven men from the same neighbourhood, helped by approximately twenty youths, cornered him near his aunt's house. The seven men then attacked him with machetes, a sword and baseball bats. His body was hacked at and sliced into by his attackers, until they finally chopped off his leg below the knee and carried it away, "like a trophy", one police officer said.

According to the defense, the attack on Catherine was seen by his attackers as a last resort measure against a violent and exceedingly aggressive man who used his fighting skills to terrorize his neighbourhood and who seemed immune to prosecution despite the numerous assault charges brought against him. The accused received ten years for the one who gave the fatal blow and the one who cut the victim's foot, and between one and six years for their accomplices.