Why does Nigel Farage fear his car was sabotaged? According to the story he told the Mail on Sunday, it’s because the French police and mechanics noticed the nuts on all his wheels had been deliberately unscrewed and told him it had to be a malicious act. The nuts were indeed all loose, but all evidence proves that the French never suspected a sabotage.

«Police told Farage all the vehicle’s wheels had been deliberately unscrewed», writes the Mail on Sunday. «The French police looked at it and said that sometimes nuts on one wheel can come a bit loose – but not on all four», Farage told the tabloid. And he kept going with details about what the police and mechanics supposedly told him : «The French police and mechanics looked at it but I have made no formal report in this country. The mechanics were absolutely certain of [foul play] but I have decided to take no further action». According to the anti-EU MP, he was the one who stopped the investigation.

Désintox talked to the mechanic who rescued Farage, and to the prosecutor who should have been in charge of the investigation, if there had been one. Both denied ever suspecting a foul play.

On October 21st, Farage was indeed rescued on the motorway in northern city of Marck after one of his wheel fell off. But it’s only once the car was towed to the garage, that the mechanic noticed all the nuts were loose. Philipe Marquis, owner of the garage, told Désintox he «had never seen anything like it [and that he] found it weird». Why didn’t he call the police then? Because he did not suspect it was a consequence of a sabotage… Instead, the mechanic suspected the nuts «had been wrongly screwed after an other repair».

He tried to know if Farage had had his car fixed in another garage, but couldn’t get to the bottom of it because… he doesn’t speak any English. «We had to talk by sign language», he said. Did he mention a «sabotage» ? «I never said that, he just saw us screwing back the nuts». Marquis certifies no one at his garage could have said anything about a foul play to Farage, who drove back to Britain. The mechanic never heard from him since.

Not only no witness can vouch for Farage’s account about what the mechanics told him, but according to our information the police did not mention any sabotage either. The police did arrive to the scene of the accident, but according to an anonymous source they did not examine the car, because no one was hurt. Hence, they could not suspect anything.

Dunkirk’s prosecutor confirms police agents were present on the scene but their intervention report only mentions a repair service. «If they had noticed a sabotage, they would have had to open an investigation», the prosecutor says. Even if Farage did not want the police to investigate the case, the prosecutor would have been entitled by law to open an investigation nonetheless. Reached by Désintox, Ukip did not care to comment on this story.

Maybe Nigel Farage suspects he has been the victim of a failed assassination attempt, but he’s clearly dishonest when he says this assumption is based on what the mechanics and the police allegedly told him. Not only did they not say anything, but they did not even suspect a thing.

To read the French version of this article, click here.