French teen gets 15-year jail term for killing teacher

A French court on Friday sentenced a former high school student to 15 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of his Spanish teacher in 2023.

Now 19, the defendant had been charged with murdering Agnes Lassalle, 53, at a school in the southwestern seaside town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

After three hours of deliberation, judges at the juvenile criminal court imposed a sentence slightly below the 16 years requested by prosecutors and well under the maximum 20-year term he faced.

Lassalle was stabbed in the chest during a lesson in February 2023. The court heard the student, then 16, locked the classroom door before attacking her with a kitchen knife he had taken from his father's home.

The trial, held behind closed doors in the city of Pau, focused on the teenager's mental state, with psychiatric experts delivering conflicting assessments.

The court ruled that his judgement was impaired at the time of the attack -- a finding that could have reduced the sentence to 13 years -- but said a longer term was justified given the "undeniable seriousness" of the crime.

Lassalle's death sparked widespread anger in France, especially after images emerged of her partner dancing alone beside her coffin during the funeral.