Normandy church knifeman was convicted terrorist monitored with electronic tag

The as-yet unnamed individual attempted to travel to Syria in 2015 to fight with Islamic State but was arrested in Turkey, it has emerged. 

According to French media, the assailant should have been living with his parents (said to be close to the Catholic church which was targeted this morning) under a court order. He was required to wear an electronic bracelet and allowed out unsupervised between the hours of 8.30am and 12.30pm. Mass at the church started at 9am.

I-tele reported the suspect, who was shot dead by police during the siege, spent nearly a year in prison before being released on March 2. Little else is known about the attackers but it is believed they were known to the French authorities.

A statement released by ISIS’ Amaq news agency said two Islamic State “soldiers” carried out the Normandy church attack in France. The statement said: “They carried out the operation in response to the call to target the countries of the crusader coalition.”