Samuel Paty: French headteacher describes spiral of events that led to beheading

They are among eight people on trial at the court in Paris who all deny the charges against them, while not denying their involvement in the case.

The other six include a pair accused of helping the teenage killer and others who are accused of egging him on on social media.

Audrey F, who has left France to teach at an international school in China, told the court that she had felt the next day that the situation had now become a problem and “something is not right at the school”.

Two videos appeared on social media, one from Brahim Chnina in which his daughter repeated her lies about the class, another later from Abdelhakim Sefrioui, naming both Samuel Paty and the school.

“By now I was very worried, not specifically for Mr Paty but for the school,” she told the court.

On the advice of a superior she went to the police with Samuel Paty, where he filed a complaint, and contacted the local authority.

The geography teacher was urged to stay at home until the school holidays which were only days away. He refused to do so and Audrey F did not insist.

Threatening emails were sent to the school and there were anonymous phone-calls too. A police car was parked outside the school for several days.

On the final day of half-term, at 16:45 on Friday 16 October, Samuel Paty was stabbed and decapitated by the 18-year-old Chechen refugee outside the school.

Brahim Chnina’s daughter has already been convicted of making false and slanderous accusations, while five other teenagers have been found guilty of taking part in a group preparing aggravated violence.

When asked in court what Abdelhakim Sefrioui and Brahim Chnina could have done to calm the situation, Audrey F said nothing would have happened if they had not posted videos online.

Regretting that she had been unable to protect her colleague, the former headteacher said: “I tell myself that if there is justice, perhaps I’ll manage to move on.”