An Algerian migrant has been arrested by police in Paris after breaking into a house owned by Julie Gayet, the partner of former French President Francois Hollande.
Police were alerted to a break-in at the home of the couple at around 6 p.m. on January 26th. Ms Gayet travelled to a local police station to report the incident, with Hollande dispatching his personal security officer to help investigators, Le Point reports.
Investigators said that the Algerian migrant forced a door but could not enter the interior of the house and ended up smashing a window on the first floor to enter the building, which has been largely vacant due to renovation work.
On January 28th, police arrested the 19-year-old Algerian, who had previously been known to police for a robbery that occurred in the 6th arrondissement of Paris in early January.
While he was ordered to be deported, this order had been suspended due to an appeal.
A day later, the Algerian was placed into Paris police custody and charged with attempted burglary and placed in pre-trial detention. He is again set to be deported at the end of any sentence he receives.
Former President Hollande, who left office with an abysmal polling rating, served as French leader during the height of the migrant crisis in 2015 and was blasted by Nigel Farage in October of that year for his policies during the crisis. The Brexit campaigner labelled the Socialist leader a “pipsqueak” to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Hollande, who had promised to clear the notorious “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais, went as far as demanding the British take in migrants from the camp to help clear it.
The city of Paris has seen a surge in robberies and violent crime in recent years, with a report released in October claiming that some areas of the city saw a 70 per cent rise in violent robberies in 2019.