The defendant, a 23-year-old Italian national, was on trial in immediate appearance before the Thionville court in Moselle for having, on October 19, pointed a knife at a woman while shouting “Allahu Akbar”, in a street in the city. The events occurred late in the afternoon. The defendant had displayed a “steak knife” from his pocket and brandished it, shouting “Allahu Akbar, God is great” in Arabic and French, reports the president of the court. He had accelerated his pace, his knife in his hand, to within “one meter” of the victim, a woman present at the hearing.
On the stand, the latter explained that she immediately took refuge in the physiotherapy office where her son was being treated. “If I hadn’t had that door to push it open, I might not be here,” she said, still trembling. His son called the police and the physical description of the young man led to the arrest shortly after. A search of the suspect’s home led to the discovery of the knife which was subsequently identified by the victim.
” A crisis “
In police custody, the latter, who declares himself a Christian, behaved agitatedly and repeated some of the cries he had made in the street. The psychiatrist who examined him at the hospital shortly after the facts mentioned a “delusional state” and a “crisis” which could also have been favored by the person concerned’s heavy consumption of cannabis, up to “15 joints per day,” according to his statements. According to the doctor, his judgment was impaired but he was still open to criminal sanction.
On the stand, the young man did not really recognize the facts, only his “crisis”. He was finally sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, with continued detention.
The prefecture also issued an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) against the young man: at the end of his detention, he will return to the administrative detention center with a view to his expulsion.