Priest killer worked as airport baggage handler
ONE of the Islamic State fanatics who murdered a Roman Catholic priest passed police checks to work as an airport baggage handler, it emerged yesterday.
Abdel Malik Petitjean and accomplice Adel Kermiche were on French terrorist watchlists when they cut their victim’s throat on Tuesday.
The men, both 19, had held Father Jacques Hamel, 85, hostage with nuns and worshippers before killing the priest at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy.
Now it has emerged Petitjean worked full time at Chambery airport, close to the Alps, until just three months ago.
The airport is used by more than 250,000 passengers a year, including many Britons.
The revelation came as French prime minister Manuel Valls admitted to a failure of security services and promised a ‘revolution in security culture’.
Petitjean started as a porter at the airport last December after completing a baccalaureate at the Marlioz high school in nearby Aix-les-Bains, where he lived. There have been numerous security scares at French airports over the years, and all employers are now meant to undergo stringent tests.
‘Petitjean had no trouble getting through a police investigation and psychological evaluation,’ said a source close to the investigation into his crimes.
‘He was considered to be a hardworking, friendly young man who did not pose any danger to passengers or others using the airport. He got through the police investigation easily.’ Petitjean left the airport in April, and was caught by Turkish intelligence services in June trying to enter Islamic State in Syria.
His accomplice Kermiche was also arrested after being caught trying to go to Syria last year but was released with an electronic tag earlier this year, despite calls by prosecutors for him to remain behind bars. Both men were shot dead following Tuesday’s brutal attack.