Briton appears in French court in connection with his children’s deaths

A BRITISH man accused of killing his two children in France has appeared in court but has not yet been charged with murder, reports say.

Julian Stevenson, 47, who appeared in court in Lyon yesterday, is alleged to have cut the throats of his daughter, five, and son, 10, during a custody battle with his French ex-wife.

“We are presently holding back from the charge of premeditated murder but this could always change in the light of (more) testimony,” a prosecutor told the AFP news agency.

It said he had visitation rights but only in the pres- ence of another person and he had taken the children home for the first time without a third party present.

It is thought the children’s mother arrived at his flat on Saturday afternoon and her ex-husband was on the stairs in bloodstained clothes.

Reports said she went to his home, in Saint-Priest, south-east of Lyon, after he failed to return the children.

Stevenson was arrested after witnesses reportedly spotted him fleeing the area on roller skates.

The Briton, who was said to be unemployed, had been living in France for some time, possibly 10 years.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in touch with the French authorities and await the outcome of their investigation. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.”