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France jails parent for six months over teacher threat
BBC News··11 Sept
A 47-year-old man received a six-month jail term in France after threatening to behead a female primary school teacher who had disciplined his son. The sentence followed a fast-track hearing on Thursday, six days after events in Le Fauga near Toulouse. The village has about 2,600 residents. The teacher was granted official protection and went on sick leave.
Prism
What It Means For You
- French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the case would trigger one of the first uses of a new decree protecting staff from family threats.
- Over the summer, Geffray steered through a law aimed at protecting staff from a significant risk to their safety or health from a student's family.
- Colleagues at the school did not go into work on Monday after the Friday threat.
What's Happening
- Mayor Jean-Marie Puig said the father waited outside the school and threatened to cut off the teacher's head if she had been a man.
- The parent later apologised, but a judicial complaint was filed and he appeared before a judge in Toulouse on Thursday.
- Toulouse education chief Karim Benmiloud said the threat followed a meeting called after the child was disruptive in class.
Why The Case Resonates In France
- The case recalls the murder of teacher Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine six years ago.
- The Toulouse judge told the man such remarks were disturbing given that history remains fresh for many French people.
- Geffray said attacking a teacher is attacking the entire institution.
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