Peter Allen

A 70-year-old neighbour of British expatriate Karen Carter has been charged with premeditated murder over Carter’s 2025 stabbing in Trémolat, Dordogne. French prosecutor Jacques-Édouard Andrault confirmed the suspect was detained earlier and is now under judicial supervision due to her age. The case has involved multiple initial arrests, including those of Jean-François Guerrier and Marie-Laure Autefort, though neither was charged and both provided DNA samples that did not match forensic evidence. Investigators continue to pursue multiple leads while Carter’s family maintains a strong, undisclosed suspicion about the perpetrator.

Three people, reportedly all Ukrainian, were injured in an explosion on Rue du Révérend Père Louis Frolla in Monaco on June 29, 2026. Local reports identified one victim as Ukrainian billionaire Vadim Ermolaev; the other victims were believed to be a woman and a teenage boy. Police are searching for a man seen leaving a backpack near a residential building, with surveillance footage tracing his movements toward Beausoleil. Monaco’s Minister of State said the incident was likely an attack and that the device may have contained bolts and shrapnel, while emergency and anti-crime units from nearby French cities reinforced the investigation.

A Paris Saint-Germain supporter in his 30s drowned in the River Seine after reportedly jumping into the water while celebrating PSG's Champions League victory over Arsenal. His death was one of two fatalities linked to a weekend of disorder in France. Another man who entered the river remained critically ill, while a 23-year-old motorcyclist died after hitting a road barrier whose warning cones had allegedly been removed by celebrating fans. Authorities also investigated the stabbing of a 17-year-old, looting, fires and attacks on police. At least 790 people were arrested, including nearly 400 in Paris, where about 8,000 officers were deployed.

Violent disturbances broke out in Paris and around 15 other French cities after Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal in the Champions League final. Authorities reported about 780 detentions nationwide, including 480 in the Paris region, while 57 police officers were injured. One 23-year-old fan died in a motorcycle crash, and an unidentified 17-year-old was critically injured in a suspected stabbing linked to the football celebrations. Fires, vandalism, attacks on police and attempts to obstruct traffic were reported, although officials said most celebrations were peaceful and planned events would continue under heightened security.

Karen Carter, a 65-year-old British mother of four, was stabbed near her home in Trémolat, France, on April 29, 2025, and her killer remains unidentified. Her family says they have a hunch about the perpetrator but is leaving the matter to investigators. Police examined possible links to a romantic feud involving Jean-François Guerrier and Marie-Laure Autefort; both were arrested and released without charge, and DNA testing produced no match. Investigators are also considering a contract killing, while Carter’s estranged husband Alan Carter has rejected suggestions that he arranged the murder. Prosecutor Jacques-Édouard Andrault says the premeditated-murder investigation remains active.

Brahim Bahrir, a 48-year-old French national with a previous conviction for stabbing three police officers in Brussels, was shot dead after attacking uniformed personnel near Paris’s Arc de Triomphe with a kitchen knife and scissors. He had been released from prison on 24 December and was under surveillance after being classified as radicalised and potentially dangerous. Police said he had warned earlier that he intended to shoot soldiers. No one other than Bahrir was killed, although one gendarme was injured, and President Emmanuel Macron praised the responders for preventing a larger attack.

Jacques Moretti, co-owner of the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, will remain in Swiss pre-trial detention until at least March over the New Year’s fire that killed 40 people and severely burned 116 others. Investigators believe champagne-bottle sparklers ignited ceiling foam, while a narrowed basement staircase became congested and collapsed during the evacuation. Moretti has acknowledged reducing the staircase width and that a service door was locked, while prosecutors allege negligent manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson. His wife and business partner, Jessica Moretti, faces related charges and has been released on bail with electronic monitoring.

A fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. during a New Year’s Eve party at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where about 400 people were present. Police said several tens of people were presumed dead and around 100 injured, many seriously, while Italy’s Foreign Ministry cited an estimate of 40 deaths. Survivors said a birthday candle held near the wooden ceiling may have ignited the blaze, although investigators had not established the cause. Authorities reported a crush at the venue’s narrow single staircase, with some people smashing windows to escape. Terrorism was ruled out, forensic investigations continued, and local medical facilities reached intensive-care and operating-room capacity. Swiss officials established support services for affected families and urged caution because emergency resources were overwhelmed.

French anaesthetist Frederic Pechier was sentenced to life in prison after the Doubs Assizes found him guilty in all 30 poisoning cases, including 12 patient deaths at two Besançon clinics between 2008 and 2017. Prosecutors said he contaminated intravenous bags with drugs and other substances to induce cardiac arrest or haemorrhaging and to psychologically harm rival healthcare workers. Pechier denied being the killer, while his defence lawyer argued there was no irrefutable evidence and said an appeal would follow.

A 35-year-old French man allegedly drove into pedestrians and cyclists on Île d’Oléron, injuring five people, including a 22-year-old woman and a National Rally parliamentary aide who remained in intensive care. Witnesses and an investigating source said the driver shouted “Allahu Akbar” and later tried to burn the vehicle using gas canisters. He was arrested, tested negative for alcohol, and was reportedly known for drug- and alcohol-related offenses and psychiatric problems. Prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said authorities were treating the incident as attempted murder rather than terrorism, with the suspect not listed on anti-terrorism files. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez visited the area as politicians expressed support for the victims.

Seven of ten defendants appeared in a Paris court on charges of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron through claims that she was born male and had abused Emmanuel Macron. Prosecutors say the online harassment caused a serious deterioration in her physical and mental health, while all defendants deny wrongdoing and invoke freedom of expression. The case includes clairvoyant Amandine Roy and social-media personality Aurelien Poirson-Atlan; Brigitte Macron is represented by her lawyer, and the trial is expected to conclude the following day.

Two suspects were arrested in connection with the seven-minute robbery at Paris’s Louvre Museum, including one reportedly detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to fly to Algeria. Investigators believe forensic evidence linked the men to the heist, in which four thieves stole eight historic French crown jewels worth about £76 million. The burglars entered the Galerie d’Apollon using a mechanical ladder and power tools, while one damaged jewel was abandoned at the scene. Police are analysing at least 150 DNA and fingerprint traces, with authorities seeking to recover the jewellery before its stones are removed or its metals melted.

Dahbia Benkired, 27, was sentenced in France to life imprisonment without parole after being convicted of abducting, raping, torturing and murdering 12-year-old Lola Daviet in Paris in 2022. Prosecutors argued that Benkired posed an extreme risk of reoffending and sought an irreducible life sentence, the harshest penalty available under French law. Lola's mother and brother described their devastation in court, while demonstrators outside called for the death penalty to be reinstated.

Investigators recovered at least 150 DNA and fingerprint traces from a stolen truck, helmet and glove abandoned after four thieves carried out a seven-minute robbery at the Louvre. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said forensic analysis and footage from public and private cameras could quickly identify the suspects, particularly if they have prior convictions. Authorities are racing to recover the stolen historic jewels before their gemstones are removed or their metals melted; the suspects face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

A highly organised gang disguised as construction workers raided Paris’s Louvre Museum in a daylight operation lasting about seven minutes. Using scooters, a flat-bed truck, a ladder and cutting tools, the thieves entered near the Galerie d’Apollon and stole nine pieces of Napoleonic jewellery, including the Eugénie Crown; two items were later recovered damaged. The Louvre was closed while French police investigated, with authorities examining CCTV and pursuing a criminal-conspiracy and cultural-property-trafficking case. Officials acknowledged vulnerabilities in French museum security, while the perpetrators remained at large.

A gang of three suspected organized criminals reportedly broke into Paris’s Louvre through construction access and cut a gallery window with a disc cutter. Two thieves allegedly stole nine jewels linked to Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte in about seven minutes, while a damaged crown associated with Empress Eugénie was found outside. The museum closed for the day as police investigated, and officials acknowledged security vulnerabilities in French museums; no injuries were reported.

A French police officer in his 50s has been placed in pre-trial detention and charged with rape and sexual assault after a 37-year-old British woman alleged that he forcibly kissed and digitally penetrated her while she was handcuffed in a patrol van near Aubagne. A second officer was charged with allegedly failing to prevent an offence and released under judicial supervision, while the driver was made an assisted witness. The officers deny wrongdoing and claim CCTV footage was misconstrued; the investigation is continuing and the woman may return to France for trial.

A tourist train overturned while negotiating a roundabout in Ajaccio, Corsica, injuring around 60 people, including children and some roadside bystanders. Four people, including a four-year-old boy, were initially reported in critical condition, while others sustained serious or minor injuries and were treated at Ajaccio Hospital. The driver was arrested on suspicion of speeding and is expected to undergo drug and alcohol testing; prosecutors said speed could be a significant factor in the ongoing investigation. About 70 firefighters, 25 paramedics and four doctors responded, while the hospital activated its emergency plan. Witnesses said the train was travelling too fast and that the last carriage overturned.

A premature newborn girl, identified as Zayneb-Cassandra, died after suffering a traumatic brain injury when a six-year-old boy allegedly dropped her on the floor of the Jeanne-de-Flandre Children’s Hospital in Lille, France. The boy, who was reportedly allowed to roam the maternity and neonatal wards unattended, had previously been described as disruptive. French juvenile police opened a criminal investigation, while the hospital launched an internal administrative inquiry into the incident.

Former Russian special forces paratrooper Vitalijs alerted Disneyland Paris staff after discovering that a planned £111,000 ceremony involved a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl being presented as Jacky Jhaj’s bride. The ceremony was stopped and police arrested Jhaj and others. Jhaj, a convicted UK sex offender, claims he was merely acting in a film shoot, while French prosecutors say the child suffered no physical or sexual violence and was not forced to participate. The investigation remains ongoing, and Vitalijs, the child and her mother were released without charge.

A 31-year-old teaching assistant identified as Melanie G. was fatally stabbed at the Françoise Dolto secondary school in Nogent-sur-Marne after she and a police officer asked a 14-year-old pupil to open his bag during a weapons check. The boy was arrested and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of deliberate killing in a youth court. The incident follows other school knife attacks in France, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to condemn a wave of violence, while authorities highlighted nationwide bag checks that had seized 94 knives.

Christophe B, a 53-year-old far-right supporter, has been arrested after Hichem Miraoui, a Tunisian Muslim hairdresser, was shot dead in Puget-sur-Argens, southern France. Prosecutors said the suspect had posted racist and hateful videos online, urged people to shoot foreigners, and also shot a Turkish man, prompting the case to be referred to counterterrorism authorities. The killing has renewed concern over anti-Muslim violence and the alleged normalization of far-right rhetoric in France. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the murder as racist, while the case follows the stabbing death of Malian carpenter Aboubakar Cissé at a mosque and comes amid reported increases in racist and anti-religious crimes.

Violence and looting continued in Paris as Paris Saint-Germain held a victory parade after winning its first Champions League title. Riot police used tear gas, baton charges and flash-ball guns against groups throwing bricks and other objects near the Champs-Élysées, while shops were barricaded and some were looted. Nationwide disorder linked to the celebrations left two people dead, including a 17-year-old stabbed in Dax, and caused serious injuries in separate incidents in Normandy and Grenoble. Police arrested 294 people in Paris, while Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the perpetrators and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi called for calm.

Seven men and one woman were convicted by the Paris Assizes over the 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian during Paris Fashion Week, in which approximately $10 million worth of jewellery was stolen. Despite the guilty verdicts, none will return to prison because of their age, health, time already served and low likelihood of reoffending. Gang leader Aomar Aït Khedache received eight years, five suspended, while Yunnis Abbas received seven years, two suspended; two alleged informants were acquitted. Kardashian, who testified that she believed she would die during the attack, said through her lawyer that she was satisfied with the result, although most of the jewellery remains unrecovered.

Aomar Aït Khedache, accused of helping lead the 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian in Paris, apologized to her before the jury retired to consider its verdict. Prosecutors requested a 10-year prison sentence for Khedache, Yunice Abbas and Didier Dubreucq, while seeking lesser terms for other defendants, citing their advanced ages and poor health. Kardashian testified that she was certain she would die during the raid, in which about $10 million in jewellery was stolen, including a $4 million engagement ring that remains missing. Khedache admitted involvement after DNA evidence linked him to the scene but denied being the mastermind; prosecutors argued that he ordered the operation and tried to sell the stolen goods in Antwerp. The verdict was expected later on Friday.