A 15-year-old teenager placed in pre-trial detention after the attack with flammable spray on a carer in Marseille

After the attack on a woman with an inflammable spray on the sidelines of the high school movement in Marseille, a young man aged 15 and a half was placed in pre-trial detention this Sunday at the Marseille juvenile prison. The attack took place Thursday October 1, 2026, on the Place du 4 September, in the 7th arrondissement of Marseille. “That day, around 10 a.m., in a context of high school demonstrations near the Colbert high school, a 40-year-old woman, a care worker, was at the bus stop and tried to intervene in the face of young people who were preparing to break the bus shelter with a metal barrier,” indicates the prosecution in this press release. “Once the group had left, the young minor advanced towards the victim, and projected a spray towards his face which he ignited using a lighter,” continues the public prosecutor.

He admitted the facts

The suspect was arrested the following day at the end of the day, in the Frais-Vallon district (13th arrondissement), by the “attack on persons” group of the local judicial police service (SLPJ) after investigations based in particular on the use of video surveillance. In police custody, “the author immediately recognized the facts and, upon understanding the significance, expressed deep regrets,” specifies the Marseille prosecutor’s office. The suspect, a student at Colbert high school, was enrolled in the second “personal assistance service” class. Until then, he was unknown to the police and justice services. The Marseille prosecutor's office indicates that it will request his placement in pre-trial detention "in view of the disturbance to public order".

Skip the ad

Questioned by BFMTV, the victim said he tried to dissuade a group of young girls who wanted to attack a bus shelter. “I told them: ‘But what are you doing, you’re not going to break anything at all, go demonstrate’,” said this care worker in an interview broadcast on Saturday evening, her face half out of the camera’s field of view.

If some seemed convinced by his words, others continued. “I didn’t expect such violence,” she testified. “Seeing a kid you don’t know, with whom you spoke normally, deliberately aiming at your face... He didn’t aim at the clothes, he didn’t aim at the legs. He aimed at my face. Why?” she asked, very shocked.