French Court Tries Repeat Criminal over Burning of Four Churches

An image of a man's hand holding an open flame with a large fire in the background.
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Chris Tomlinson

A 36-year-old man appeared at the court of Boulogne Sur Mer this week after being accused of setting fires in four churches in Boulogne and Portel in October and November of last year.

The man, who has 25 prior criminal convictions including thefts and cases similar to the arson he is accused of this week, is believed to have set fires in four churches including the church of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul du Portel in November. The fire required nineteen firefighters to stop the blaze.

Following the fire in Portel, police connected the suspect to the three other fires in October and November in the same area, with some reports indicating that as many as six churches in the area had been targetted by arson or vandalism attacks, French newspaper Le Figaro reports.

Following his arrest in November, the 36-year-old allegedly admitted being behind the arson attacks to investigators, stating that he was motivated by “resentment against men of the Church” but added that his motive for the attacks was not a political one. Prosecutors had previously called for a psychiatric evaluation of the man in November.

Attacks against churches in France, including arsons and attempted arsons, remain a persistent problem across the country. In September, a church in the commune of Saint-Loup-Hors saw two suspicious fires in a matter of just four days.

The first fire saw a banner set on fire but was put out with a fire extinguisher, while the second blaze required the action of local firefighters and saw damage to the church, including several paintings being destroyed as a result.

Attacks on churches have become so prevalent in recent years, that a 2019 report from the Central Criminal Intelligence Service (SCRC) claimed that between 2016 and 2018 there head been thousands of attacks on churches, with 1,045 cases reported in 2017, alone.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

 

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