A father has been jailed after telling his son’s teacher he would have beheaded her “if she were a man” – a case that shocked France.
Abdelkader B., 47, was sentenced after a fast-track hearing on Thursday, six days after the menacing incident in Le Fauget, a village of about 2,600 people near Toulouse.
The case has brought back horrific memories in France of the murder of Samuel Paty, a teacher who was killed and beheaded outside his school in a Paris suburb in October 2020.
In Le Faug, fellow teachers refused to enter the school following an incident on 4 September. The teacher received official protection and is now on sick leave.
The Toulouse Criminal Court found that Abdelkader B. made the threat after he was summoned to speak with the school.
He was informed that his son was disruptive in class and continued to misbehave even when he was moved to another class to calm down.
According to French media, the teacher allegedly advised the child to “stop acting like a little bully.”
The father admitted that he approached a school employee after a meeting with the school principal and addressed her in the informal language of “you.”
The 47-year-old admitted it was “maybe a little aggressive” when he asked her why she called his son a “little bully”.
Although he denied the allegations at the time, he told the court he “lost” because the teacher’s tone in front of the office rose.
He said it was at that moment that he told her: “If you were a man, I would cut off your head.”
Abdelkader B., 47, threatened to behead a school teacher in Le Faug (pictured)
However, his testimony did not match that of the victim or witnesses, who said the first beheading threat was made in the parking lot.
He then followed the teacher after she entered the school and was heard saying: “Don’t be surprised if tomorrow [my son] comes with a knife and stabs you,” says another teacher.
Ms Momasso Momasso, representing the victim, said the teacher “saw she ended up like Samuel Paty”.
“This case is one of the most serious,” she said, according to local media. “When he says those words, he knows who he’s talking to. He knows the country’s scars.”
Samuel Paty was a teacher who was beheaded outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, in 2020.
In light of France’s history, Ms Momasso, who is also a lawyer for the Toulouse Education Authority, said the remarks were “no longer acceptable in France in 2026”.
She added: “Teachers will no longer have to go to work with a knot in their stomach.”
Abdelkader B apologized and said he “wasn’t really proud” of himself,” insisting he “wasn’t a violent person.” He was sentenced to six months in prison.
He was also ordered to take a citizenship course and banned from approaching the victim or contacting the school for three years.
Meanwhile, French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said: “No teacher should be afraid to do their job. An attack on one of them is an attack on the entire organization.”
Over the summer, the minister initiated new legislation to protect teachers from “significant risk” from students or their families.
The order, introduced in July, means children can be transferred to other schools if they are involved in an incident that poses a significant risk to staff.
The boy and his younger sister are expected to be transferred to a school near Le Faugi.