Patrick O'Brien was filmed confronting the couple in a hypermarket in Avignon in August. Social media
Avignon
Patrick O’Brien (60) was found guilty of “attempting to justify crimes against humanity” and “making death threats aggravated by their antisemitic nature”.
AN IRISHMAN WHO admitted threatening to “put a bullet” in the head of a Jewish woman in France has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence.
Patrick O’Brien (60), who is originally from Dublin, caused shock and outrage after he was filmed confronting a couple in a hypermarket in Avignon in August.
The Australian tourists, who have asked not to be named, also accused him of making antisemitic remarks referring to the Second World War, including: “I’m sorry Hitler didn’t finish the job”.
Both victims were from a family who went through the Holocaust, and some relatives were murdered by the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
O’Brien appeared at the Avignon Criminal Court last Friday and was convicted of “attempting to justify crimes against humanity” and “making death threats aggravated by their antisemitic nature”.
After being found guilty on both counts, he was given the six-month suspended sentence and told to pay €500 each to the two Australians, and €300 to Campaign against Hate, Antisemitism, Racism (CHAR) and B’nai B’rith, two Jewish humanitarian groups.
Prosecutors had asked for O’Brien to be banned from French territory for three years, but judges declined to do this.
In turn, O’Brien claimed he had been suffering from ill health and was a “committed humanist” who opposed any form of violence.
Avignon prosecutor Stéphanie Aouine said the accused – who lives in France having moved from Ireland – had made a confession, saying his poisonous words followed an intense argument about Ireland’s policies towards Israel.
Aouine said: “He admitted to the facts while putting them in context – he stated that he regretted his remarks, explaining that he had let anger get the better of him.”
Describing the verbal attack on 11 August, Aouine said the Australians had started chatting “cordially” about the woman’s husband wearing a France football shirt.
Then it “veered onto Ireland’s policy regarding Israel,” said Aouine.
Ireland has been a fierce critic of Israel’s military action against Palestinians, officially accusing it of genocide and crimes against humanity following the slaughter of tens of thousands of men, women and children.
Aouine said: “The suspect then became aggressive and allegedly made antisemitic remarks.
“The Australian holidaymaker took out her phone to film the scene. The man then tried to end the exchange by walking away, before threatening – in English – to kill her if they [the woman and her husband] did not leave him alone.”
O’Brien was identified by CCTV footage and traced to his home near Avignon, before being taken into police custody.
Police raided his house and seized “digital devices” and computers, which contained further evidence of a racist nature, said the prosecutor.
They included one in which he said he wanted to “get rid of trash from the Third World”, the court heard.
Announcing the suspect’s original arrest in August, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said: “Kudos to the gendarmes for their investigation following the antisemitic threats and remarks made against tourists this summer at a hypermarket in Le Pontet.”
Nunez added: “Antisemitism must be fought firmly and relentlessly.”
Jewish groups in France have regularly complained about antisemitism being on the increase, with violent acts increasingly linked to the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Following O’Brien’s conviction, a spokesman for CHAR welcomed the verdict, but said the punishment had not been strong enough.
The spokesman said: “To publicly wish for the completion of the Holocaust, then threaten a woman with death because she is Jewish, and walk away with a suspended sentence and a fine of just a few hundred euros – this sends a message that trivialises such acts, and it is something we cannot accept.
“The victim’s father survived the Holocaust – her family was murdered at Auschwitz. What was expressed in front of the victim was, in effect, a regret that her family had not been entirely wiped out.”