Man is charged with 13 counts of attempted murder after playground 'knife attack' in French Alps that left British toddler hurt

Published: 13:01 EDT, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 13:46 EDT, 7 October 2026 A man who allegedly stabbed a British toddler at a playground in the French Alps will go on trial charged with 13 attempted murders, prosecutors have said.Abdalmasih Hanoun is alleged to have stabbed a girl named locally as three-year-old Ettie during, what prosecutors say, was a knife rampage at a park in Annecy, south-east France, in June 2023. He is also charged with the attempted murder of 12 other people and armed resistance. Ettie had been visiting the area with her parents, officials said, and was one of four children aged between 22 months and three years who were wounded. The British toddler suffered a single stab wound but her condition was never vital, French prosecutors said. Hanoun will now face trial 'within the next year' at Haute-Savoie Assize Court. It comes after the defendant's mental state was assessed by a panel of experts who found he was not 'suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder' at the time of the attack.A translated statement released by French prosecutors read: '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. Emergency services are pictured at the scene of the alleged attack in Le Paquier, south-east France, in June 2023 French policemen holding guns are pictured at the lakeside park where the alleged attack occurred more than three years ago '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 order a trial to proceed can be subject to appeal at the French Court of Cassation, the statement added.Shortly after the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte visited the British child and other victims in hospital before travelling to the lakeside town where the attack took place.