French court jails Algerian for life over 2019 bomb attack

Mohamed Medjdoub, 29, remained seated and did not show any emotion as a Paris judge read the verdict, which stated that he should not be granted parole for 22 years.

On May 24, 2019, two days before the European elections, the radicalised young man placed a handmade bomb outside a bakery in the eastern city of Lyon, wounding 13 people, including a 10-year-old girl.

He had crammed explosives and 270 metallic projectiles inside an old crisp tube, then wrapped it all up in a paper bag, the investigation found.

Medjdoub told investigators his aim had been to create fear so the far right would win the European polls, which would foment tensions with Muslims and spark a "civil war".

Medjdoub refused to speak for most of his trial since early last week but told the court on Monday he regretted nothing and that his operation was "perfection, from the start to finish".

Psychological experts during the trial called the defendant "narcissistic" and "dangerous".

Medjdoub's family has lived in France since 2015.

He joined them in 2017. His relatives described him as a loner who rarely left his room and had no friends.

As he refused to answer questions in court, it remains unclear whether he was radicalised in Algeria or after he arrived in France.