A British girl aged three was stabbed at a playground in a knife attack at the French Alps holiday hotspot of Annecy in June 2023. The toddler, named locally as Ettie, was visiting the town in south-east France with her parents when she was attacked at a lakeside park in Le Paquier.
Abdalmasih Hanoun will now stand trial accused of her attempted murder, as well as the attempted murder of 12 other people, French prosecutors have announced. The British girl was among four young children, aged between 22 months and three years, who were wounded during the attack. Two pensioners were also injured.
Charges and trial date
French prosecutors said at the time that Ettie suffered a single stab wound, although her condition was never considered "vital". Hanoun also faces charges of violence with a weapon and armed resistance. The French public prosecutor's office announced on Wednesday that he is due to stand trial at the Haute-Savoie Assize Court in Annecy within the next year.
The decision followed an assessment of Hanoun's mental state by a panel of experts, who determined that he was not "suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder" at the time of the attack. A translated statement from the prosecutor's office said: "By a decision dated October 6 2026, the Indictment Chamber of the Chambery Court of Appeal ordered that Abdalmasih Hanoun be back before the Haute-Savoie Assize Court in the case known as the 'paquier' case.
Legal proceedings
"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.
"The Indictment Chamber considered that since the person under investigation was manifestly not, at the time of the events and according to the second panel of experts, suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder abolishing his discernment or ability to control his actions, there could be no grounds justifying the decision not to indict Mr Abdalmasih Hanoun."
The decision to send Hanoun for trial can still be appealed at France's Court of Cassation. In the aftermath of the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte visited the British youngster and other victims in hospital. The couple later travelled to Annecy, the lakeside Alpine town where the attack took place.
