An illegal migrant from Algeria who had only been in France for seven months was sentenced to four months in prison after robbing and chasing tourists on the Paris metro armed with a box cutter.
The Algerian, 28-year-old Amine D., was arrested along with an accomplice on Friday in Paris and sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday by the criminal court of Paris.
The incident took place at the Antwerp station on Line 2 of the Paris metro when a police officer noticed tourists and two young men in some sort of struggle. One of the young men then pulled out a box cutter and threatened the tourists before fleeing, Le Parisien reports.
The policeman then followed the pair onto the subway where the young men attempted to attack a woman after the train arrived at the Barbes station. The woman fled, and the pair then made their way onto Line 4.
At the Strasbourg-Saint-Denis metro station, the two snatched a mobile phone from a woman but three police were at the station waiting for them as they tried to make their escape. The Algerian attempted to throw away his box cutter but was arrested along with his accomplice.
The Algerian, claimed to be a minor, denied he was armed during the incident, telling the court: “Yes, I stole that phone. But I was unarmed and I was alone. I have no choice because I have been on the street since I was released from prison.”
According to Le Parisien, the Algerian was released from prison in July — evidently he was not deported — and has only been in France for a total of seven months overall. His prior conviction was also for theft while aboard public transport.
Migrants from North African countries such as Algeria have made up a disproportionate number of the arrests of minors in Paris in recent years, with French politicians Jean-François Eliaou and Antoine Savignat presenting a report last year that revealed that around 10 per cent of minor migrants were engaged in crime and that North Africans from countries like Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria made up the majority.