Man to face trial for attempted murder of British child in Alps park attack

A man accused of stabbing a British toddler at a playground in the French Alps will go on trial charged with attempted murder, prosecutors have said.

Abdalmasih Hanoun is also charged with armed resistance and the attempted murder of 12 other people after the attack at a park in Le Paquier, southeast France, in June 2023.

The British child, who was three at the time, was visiting the area with her parents, officials said.

French prosecutors said at the time that the child suffered a single stab wound. She was one of the four children, aged between 22 months and three years, who were wounded.

Hanoun will face trial at Haute-Savoie Assize Court in Annecy within the next year, the French public prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.

The prosecutor's statement read: "The defendant will have to answer charges of attempted murder in respect of 13 victims, violence with a weapon without total work incapacity in respect of two victims, and armed resistance."

It added that the defendant's mental state had been assessed by a panel of experts, who found he had not been "suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder" at the time of the attack.

This means there could be "no grounds justifying the decision not to indict Mr Abdalmasih Hanoun".

The statement added that the decision to order a trial to proceed could be subject to appeal.

Shortly after the attack on 8 June 2023, officials confirmed that the four young victims were in stable condition.

One of the children was a Dutch national and the other two were confirmed to be French nationals from the eastern region of Haute-Savoie.

Two adults were also hurt in the attack, but were later said to be out of danger.