by S’ola Filani

A school teacher was stabbed to death by a pupil’s mother in front of a classroom full of her horrified five and six-year-old students, yesterday.

The horrific attack happened on the last day of the school term at the Edouard Herriot school in the town of of Albi in south west France.

The attack took place around 9am at the school in the Lapanouse area of the town which has 284 pupils aged from three to 11.

The 47-year-old mother reportedly burst into the classroom and screamed ‘I’m not a thief’ before stabbing the teacher in the abdomen.

She then attempted to escape but was caught around 20 minutes later close to the school grounds.

The Moroccan-born woman, who holds Spanish nationality, has a police record for child neglect and not reporting a runaway child, French radio reported.

She is currently in custody, where she is likely to remain until a criminal trial sometime next year, when she will face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of murder.

France’s Education Minister Benoit Hamon said the whole of France was ‘deeply shocked’ by a crime which came at the end of the school year.