Gunman Dirk Raats dies in prison
 

A Dutchman charged with murder for the killing of an 11-year-old British girl in France has died in prison, his lawyer revealed on Tuesday.

Dirk Raats opened fire on a British family in June 2023 following a neighbourly feud over noise in Plonevez-du-Faou, a village in the western French region of Brittany.

In the shooting - sparked according to prosecutors by the Dutchman's 'exasperation' over persistent chainsaw noise from the neighbouring property - the suspect killed the young girl, Solaine Thornton, and shot her father, 50-year-old Adrian, in the head.

I hope it was a long, protracted illness that killed him. Wouldn't want to think he slipped away peacefully in his sleep.