An Algerian and a Syrian have been sentenced to four and five years in prison, respectively, after stabbing a teenager for refusing to give them a cigarette.
The Tours Correctional Court sentenced the two migrants, aged 20 and 26, for the stabbing, which took place in July of last year.
According to a report from broadcaster France Bleu, the 20-year-old Syrian national also received a ban on entering French territory for the next ten years following the completion of his sentence.
The incident, which took place on the banks of the River Loire in Tours, western France, saw the migrants approach the French teen at 3 am while he was with a group of friends.
When the migrants asked him for a cigarette, the teen refused. As a result, the Syrian and Algerian stabbed him three times in the abdomen, the shoulder, and the thigh. The victim was later treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Violent crime continues to be a major problem in France, with 2019 seeing one of the worst years for homicides in recent French history, according to professor of Criminology Alain Bauer, who stated last year that the country has seen a surge in cases of homicide in the last decade.
“The only reliable indicator since 1539 (and the creation of the civil registry by the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts) is homicide mortality. It shows a collapse of homicide violence for five centuries… and a strong recovery over the past decade,” Bauer said.