Nursery teacher ‘stabbed himself and blamed Isil’

A FRENCH nursery school teacher yesterday claimed he was stabbed in his classroom by an Isil supporter before admitting he invented the story, as tensions continued to run high after a series of terror attacks in the country.

The 45-year-old teacher at a school in Aubervilliers, north-east of Paris, was taken to hospital with light stab wounds in his side and throat.

He had earlier claimed that a man in a balaclava had entered his class, grabbed a box cutter and scissors and attacked him.

The teacher further claimed that the man shouted: “This is Daesh [an Arabic and pejorative acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]. This is a warning.”

Prosecutors were last night questioning the teacher, whose injuries were not considered life-threatening, over why he had stabbed himself and lied. News of the “attack” had earlier sent shockwaves around France, still traumatised by the Paris outrages of Nov 13 that killed 130.

It came weeks after Isil’s French-language magazine Dar-al-Islam called on followers to kill French school teachers, describing them as “enemies of Allah”. “This education, in the case of France in particular, is a means of propaganda used to impose the corrupt way of thought established by the Judeo-masonry,” it said. “Muslims must know the French education system is built against religion and Islam as the only religion of truth cannot cohabit with this fanatic secularism.”

The Isil attacks of last month prompted France to impose a three-month state of emergency and led to a Europewide manhunt for suspects.

“We will continue to reinforce security at schools in a context where they feel threatened,” said education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.

Rachel Schneider, of the main pri- mary school teachers’ union, SNUipp, said the Isil threats had prompted safety concerns among teachers.

“We have received many calls from colleagues. They fear this message of murderous madness will inspire unstable people to action,” she said.

In March 2012, Mohamed Merah, a jihadist with links to al-Qaeda, killed three children and a teacher outside a Jewish school in south-western France in a string of attacks in which he also killed three soldiers.

‘Many teachers fear this murderous madness will inspire unstable people to action’