France attacker jailed in 2013 over planning terror activities

A man who fatally stabbed a police captain and his partner on Monday in an attack claimed by Islamic State had been sentenced to prison in 2013 for membership of a group that was planning terror activities, French officials said on Tuesday.

The man was released almost immediately after his trial for reasons that remain unclear.

On Monday evening, the man, Larossi Abballa (25), attacked the police captain outside his home in Magnanville, a village about 35 miles from Paris.

He then entered the house and killed the officer's partner, who also worked for the French Interior Ministry, in the presence of the couple's three-year-old son.

Around midnight, elite police forces stormed the house, killing Abballa and rescuing the child, according to the Interior Ministry.

Abballa posted photographs and a video of the killings on his Facebook account, according to David Thomson, a French journalist who specialises in covering jihadis.

‘Indisputably’ terrorism

President Francois Hollande of France said it was "indisputably a terrorist incident".

Abballa was one of eight men convicted in Paris in 2013 of aiding a group that had intended to commit terrorist acts and planned to go to Pakistan for training.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, but six months of that sentence was suspended, and his time was then further reduced for the two years he had already spent in jail.

Released immediately

He was then released immediately after the trial, although he was under surveillance for two years, French law enforcement officials said.

Abballa did not appear to be the most dangerous jihadi at his trial, but he was one of the most determined, said Hervé Denis, a lawyer who represented Zohab Ifzar, one of the eight men who were accused and convicted in the case.

The police captain killed on Monday had nothing to do with the investigation that resulted in Abballa’s going to jail, and Abballa never carried out his plan to go to Pakistan, Mr Denis said.

“At the trial, Abballa seemed like someone who was not dangerous but was rather stupid,” Mr Denis added.

“He appeared to be the perfect soldier,” Mr Denis said - someone who would do whatever was needed to help the effort - and he was “very determined”.

New York Times service