French Father Jailed Six Months Over Teacher Threat

A French court has sentenced a father to six months in prison for threatening to behead a teacher at his nine-year-old son’s school.

The man was prosecuted after confronting the 58-year-old teacher at the school in Le Fauga, southwestern France, last week.

Reports said the incident followed the decision to move his son to another class because of his behaviour.

The father allegedly threatened to decapitate the teacher while confronting her in the school car park. He later entered the school and repeated the threats in the headteacher’s presence.

The case has drawn attention because of its similarities to the 2020 killing of French teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an 18-year-old radical Islamist of Chechen origin after showing students caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

At a hearing in Toulouse on Thursday, the father’s lawyer acknowledged the seriousness of the offence but urged the court to view his client as a concerned parent rather than focus on his Muslim religious beliefs.

Judge Fabrice Rives described the threats as “extremely disturbing”, saying they “only refer to a current event that has, unfortunately, remained in the minds of all French people”.

The court ordered the six-month sentence to be served immediately without parole, despite prosecutors seeking the same sentence under electronic monitoring.

Following his release, the man must complete a citizenship course within six months. He has also been barred from contacting the teacher or going near the school for three years.

The defendant apologised in court, saying he had not “realised the seriousness” of his remarks.

He said he was “very, very protective of his children” and described himself as “not a violent person by nature”.

The teacher, who was reportedly traumatised by the incident, is currently on sick leave and remains uncertain about returning to the classroom.

Her lawyer, Jocelyn Momasso-Momasso, said she told the defendant: “I didn’t sign up for this”.