French teacher stabbed to death in front of young pupils

The French teacher with her family

 

A 34 year old primary school teacher in the French town of Albi has been stabbed to death in front of her class by a pupil's mother.

Fabienne Terral-Calmes was attacked at the Edouard Herriot school on Friday morning.

According to the Education Minister Benoit Hamon, she appeared to have a "serious psychiatric disorder".

The attacker, 47 years old, was bringing her own daughter, aged five or six, to school as usual on Friday when she brought out a long knife, French broadcaster France Info reports.

She is said to have shouted "I am not a thief" before attacking.

Paramedics tried to save the teacher, but she died at the scene from a single stab wound to her side, around two hours after the assault.

Her attacker fled but was arrested a shortly as she wandered along a nearby street muttering incoherently, local prosecutor Claude Derens said.

The suspect was assessed by psychiatrists after her arrest and was found to be suffering from “severe mental problems in the form of delirious notions of persecution”, he told a press conference.

Local media reported that the suspect, who was not named officially, was already known to police over allegations of child neglect.

Le Point magazine reports that the suspect later told police her act was justified because "the teacher was bad" to her daughter.