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CRIME

Murders in France fall to ‘lowest ever level’

Murder rates in France have dropped to their lowest level in history, Interior Minister Manuel Valls declared on Friday.

Published: 18 January 2013 15:20 CET
Updated: 18 January 2013 18:35 CET
Murders in France fall to 'lowest ever level'
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, being transported by members of France's gendarmerie in December 2012. Photo: Jacques Demarthon/AFP

Revealing figures gathered by the French national supervisory body on crime and punishment (ONDRP), Valls said that the number of homicides recorded in the country for the year 2012 represented "the lowest ever".

Within France's urban 'police zone', the observatory recorded 430 murders, a 2.3 percent drop from 2011 and in the more rural 'gendarmerie zone,' 235 murders were recorded – a 22.4 percent drop compared to last year. 

By contrast, the number of burglaries recorded in 2012 was up by 14.7 percent in the cities, and by 4.7 percent in the rest of France. 

Speaking at a press conference on French TV channel TF1, Valls declared, "I am going to take on these figures, and confront the reality of crime."  

Crime figures have been a recent source of controversy in France. In December 2012, the right-leaning Le Figaro published a series of articles attacking President Francois Hollande's Socialist government for its ability to tackle crime after figures for the month of November revealed a steep rise in violent offenses. Valls hit back however claiming the figures had been manipulated and were not a true reflection of the level of crime in France.

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CRIME

Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

An assailant on Thursday wounded two girls aged 6 and 11 in a knife attack close to their school in the east of France and was later arrested, officials said.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:33 CEST
Two girls wounded in knife attack outside French school

The 11-year-old was stabbed outside the school in the town of Souffelweyersheim, on the outskirts of Strasbourg, while the six-year-old was attacked by the same man nearby.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both received superficial wounds, police said, adding the attacker did not appear to have any known links to radicals and was not previously known to the security services.

Both girls are being treated in a paediatric hospital. Parents were later in the afternoon allowed to pick up their children, who had been confined to the school in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The attacker, born in 1995, was arrested in the area where he attacked the second girl, the police said. He no longer had the knife in his hand and did not resist arrest, it added.

The attack came as Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a series of measures aimed at cracking down on violence committed by schoolchildren against their peers. There was no indication so far that the attacker had a link with the school.

“I’m really scared. We’ve been reassured that the children are safe inside, but we don’t know when we’ll be able to get them back,” Sarah, a mother of an eight-year-old pupil, told AFP before the green light was given to collect the children.

“A friend called me. She saw the commotion in front of the school as she passed by. Her reflex was to call me so that I could pick up my son.”

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