An Afghan national who stole a kitchen knife from a French superstore and injured four in a stabbing spree last year has been declared “criminally irresponsible” for the incident and will avoid serving any time in prison.
The Le Mans public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Monday the 33-year-old migrant would remain hospitalized in a psychiatric unit following a judgment of the investigation chamber of the Angers Court of Appeal on Dec. 12.
The court held after seeking advice from psychiatric experts that the man had been “suffering from a psychiatric or neuropsychic disorder” at the time of the attack, which resulted in him not having full “control of his actions
.”
“In consideration of the psychiatric dangerousness noted by the expert, and requiring intensive and lasting care, safety measures aimed at preventing a new act have also been imposed,” the public prosecutor announced in a press release.
Under the new measures, the man will remain under psychiatric care until the order is lifted following examination. He is also banned from appearing in the vicinity of where the attack took place for 20 years and is prohibited from carrying a weapon.
On July 27 last year, the man entered a supermarket on Avenue de la Libération in the northwestern French city of Le Mans and began “attacking passers-by, stabbing them while repeatedly uttering words in Arabic,” according to a prosecutor statement at the time.
“I saw his killer face, he had black eyes, and he was brandishing his knife,” an eyewitness told French broadcaster BMFTV.
It was only through the heroic actions of Jean-Michel, a supermarket employee who stopped the attacker, that more civilians were prevented from being injured in the stabbing spree.
The perpetrator had only recently arrived in the French city from Afghanistan and was in possession of a valid residency permit.