A father has been jailed after telling his son's teacher he would behead her 'if she was a man' in a case that has shocked France.
Abdelkader B., 47, was sentenced after a fast-track hearing on Thursday, six days after the threatening incident in Le Fauga, a village with a population of about 2,600 just outside Toulouse.
The case has dredged back horrific memories in France of the murder of Samuel Paty, a teacher who was murdered and decapitated outside his school in a Paris suburb in October 2020.
In Le Fauga, the teacher's co-workers refused to go into the school due to the incident on September 4. The teacher has been granted official protection and is now on sick leave.
Toulouse Criminal Court heard that Abdelkader B. made the threat after he was called in for a chat with the school.
The teacher was alleged to have told the child to 'stop acting like a little bully', French media reports.
The father admitted he approached the school staff member after a meeting with the school's principal and used the informal 'tu' to address her.
The 47-year-old confessed it was 'perhaps a little aggressive' as he asked her why she called his son a 'little bully'.
While he denied the allegations at the time, he told the court he 'lost it' because the teacher's tone escalated in front of the office.
He said it was in this moment he said he told her: 'If you were a man, I would have cut your head off.'
Abdelkader B., 47, threatened to behead the teacher at the school in Le Fauga (pictured)
However, his testimony did not match the victim's or the witnesses', who said the first beheading threat was launched in the car park.
He then followed the teacher after she went into the school and was heard saying 'don't be surprised if tomorrow [my son] comes with a knife and stabs you', by another teacher.
Ms Momasso Momasso, representing the victim, said the teacher 'saw herself ending up like Samuel Paty'.
'This case is one of the most serious,' she said, according to local media. 'When he utters those words, he knows who he's talking to. He knows the country's scars.'
Samuel Paty was a teacher who was beheaded outside of his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, in 2020.
In light of France's history, Ms Momasso, who is also a lawyer for the Toulouse education authority, said the remarks are 'no longer tolerable in France in 2026.'
She added: 'Teachers should no longer have to go to work with a knot in their stomach.'
Abdelkader B. apologised and said he 'was really not proud' of himself', insisting he was 'not a violent person'. He has been sentenced to six months behind bars.
He has also been ordered to take a citizenship course and has been banned from going near the victim or contacting the school for three years.
Meanwhile, French Education Minister Edouard Geffray said: 'No teacher should be afraid to do their job. Attacking one of them is attacking the entire institution.'
A new law to protect teachers from 'significant risk' from students or their family members was spearheaded by the minister over the summer.
The decree passed in July means children can be moved to different schools if they are involved in an incident that poses a significant risk to staff.
It is believed the boy and his younger sister will be moved to a school outside of Le Fauga.