Six months custodial sentence for threatening decapitation of teacher in Haute-Garonne
A parent has been sentenced to six months in prison for threatening to behead a teacher at Fauga school, near Toulouse.
Parent sentenced for death threats against teacher at Fauga school
A parent born in 1979 in Toulouse was sentenced on Thursday, 10 September to six months custodial imprisonment with an order for immediate detention for threatening to behead a teacher at Fauga school in Haute-Garonne, according to BFM TV. He was immediately imprisoned at Seysses prison.
The sentence also includes a three-year ban on approaching the school and the teacher, a one-year firearms ban, and an obligation to attend a citizenship course and pay one euro in symbolic compensation to the victim.
The Public Prosecutor had requested a six-month electronic monitoring sentence, coupled with a ban on contact with the victim and a three-year ban on appearing at the school. The court imposed a custodial sentence, which was more severe than the prosecution's requested sentence.
The incident dates back to Friday, 4 September. As school finished, the father of a year-six pupil confronted the teacher in the car park. He accused her of having "terrorised his son" by calling him a "small-time boss" — the child had been sent to her classroom as punishment after the teacher told him "stop acting like a small-time boss".
According to evidence presented at the hearing, the father allegedly threatened the teacher a first time by saying he would "cut her head off" in the car park — allegations he denied. The teacher then took refuge inside the school. The father and his wife followed her into the hallway and then into the headteacher's office. At least two witnesses, a teaching assistant and the headteacher, allegedly heard the father declare "I'm going to cut your head off".
At the hearing, the defendant could not find "words to explain" his behaviour. He specified that when the headteacher opened the door, tension had risen and he had "lost it", adding: "At that moment, I said 'if you were a man I would cut your head off'." He said he understood the teacher's fear, whilst clarifying that he did not necessarily wish it.
Already convicted five times, notably for traffic offences, the father repeatedly said he was "sincerely sorry about the situation" and assured the court he was not "basically a violent person".
In her submission, the prosecutor said the defendant was downplaying the facts and recalled the memory of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded by a terrorist in 2020 in the Yvelines.
The victim's lawyer, Me Momasso-Momasso, indicated that the teacher "has moved house and is on sick leave", "traumatised" by the events. "She thought she was going to die that evening," he said. "She did not sign up to be told one day that someone is going to cut her head off."
Source: BFM TV