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CRIME

French driver ‘drugged and sexually assaulted’ women on ride-share trips

A Frenchman is on trial accused of eight sexual assaults on young women he drugged with chocolate mixed with tranquilisers after they signed up to travel with him in his car via ride-sharing app Bla Bla Car.

Published: 11 December 2017 16:50 CET
French driver 'drugged and sexually assaulted' women on ride-share trips
Photo: AFP

The 52-year-old was finally arrested in November 2014 when one of his alleged victims ended up in hospital after reacting badly to the cocktail of tranquilisers and antidepressants.

His alleged routine was to offer his passengers chocolate when they got into the car which he frequently drove from his home in Nantes to the Calais area to visit relations, France Bleu reported.

When the young women passed out, he allegedly sexaully assaulted them. When they woke up they didn’t know what had happened and the only unusual thing they noticed was that the trip took longer than it should have.

The man ferried around 50 passengers over a nine-month period leading up to his arrest. He has admitted to sexual assault on eight women aged between 20 and 30. Police suspect there may be other victims.

He went on trial on Monday in Nantes accused of administering toxic substances and sexual assault. He faces up to seven years in jail if convicted.

The accused has said in his defence that he suffered from loneliness and had no social life, according to France Bleu.

 

CRIME

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

French prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man and a youth in the Paris region with planning a "terrorist" attack on Jewish targets, a judicial source told AFP on Friday.

Published: 22 June 2024 12:47 CEST
Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

While no details on the pair have been released, French anti-terrorist investigators have expressed increased concern over the young age of some suspects detained in recent months for planning militant attacks.

The 19-year-old has been charged with “terrorist conspiracy” to commit attacks and the “acquisition and possession of arms for a terrorist enterprise,” said the judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

READ ALSO: Anti-Semitism fears stalk Jewish voters’ choice in France

The youth aged under 18 was detained on June 13, the source said.

The pair made contact on social media and were planning a “a violent action notably aiming at Jewish targets,” said the source without giving details on the plot.

Anti-terrorism investigators say a growing number of youths have been held in recent months for preparing attacks.

READ ALSO: French election breakdown: TV debates, polling latest and anti-Semitism

“This is a necessarily worrying phenomenon,” senior anti-terrorist prosecutor Olivier Christen said at an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday.

French politicians have also condemned a growing number of attacks on the country’s Jewish community, the biggest outside Israel and the United States.

Outrage has been expressed over the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a park in the Paris suburbs last Saturday. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making anti-Semitic insults.

Several protest rallies have been held in Paris and other French cities over the case which comes as France prepares for a national election in which the far-right National Rally party is tipped to make major gains. 

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