Father held as children found with throats slit
The bodies of the two children, aged five and 10, were discovered in his apartment in Saint-Priest, a southeastern suburb of the central city of Lyon.
He was arrested and placed in custody on Saturday evening. A judicial source said a knife which is thought to have been the murder weapon had been found.
The source said the man had visitation rights but only in the presence of another person, adding that this was the first time he brought the children home alone to his apartment.
Their mother had reportedly been worried about the visit and returned to the flat on Saturday afternoon.
Several witnesses said the man fled on roller skates after his former wife encountered him on the stairwell of the building and saw him with bloodstained clothes. She immediately alerted the police.
Ahmed Benguedda, a former neighbour of the couple, said the couple had divorced “two or three years ago” and that the man had a drinking problem and was a wife beater.
The wife moved out of the apartment after the divorce and was living in the Isere region of eastern France.
But the children were “well-balanced”, said Benguedda, whose seven-year-old daughter often played with them.
Britain’s Foreign Office is “urgently” investigating the case, it said
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the reports and are urgently looking into them.”
The mother, an assistant accountant, had won custody of the children following her divorce and had left to live in Isere, while the unemployed father continued to live in the flat.
“The people who live here are all in a state of shock,” said Benguedda.
Another resident said: “One or two times with my wife and my daughter we ate together. They were a couple during this time.
“There had also eaten many times at our home. They looked good when they were together. But after they broke up I don’t think he could accept it.”
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