British woman murdered in France ‘dream home’ after asking for Sellotape
Bahloul reportedly tells court, ‘If you let me out, I’ll do it again’
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Your support makes all the difference.The mentally ill neighbour of a British woman who was living her “dream life” in a quaint French hamlet was sentenced to life in prison for strangling and beating her to death.
Susan Higginbotham, 67, was found dead in September 2021 in her home in Esclottes, a village of just about 150 people, 35 miles east of Bordeaux.
She was attacked by her neighbour Hicham Bahloul, 42, who had returned after spending almost half of his life in psychiatric hospital care, reported Connexion France.
He suffered from several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, the court heard.
On Wednesday, Bahloul was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he confessed to killing Higginbotham and asked his lawyers to request for a maximum sentence.
The British pensioner moved to France in 2016 and was described as “happy” and “funny”, and “a good friend” who was “living her dream life” in the country, the court heard.
She lived in Mansfield in Nottinghamshire and worked as a finance director in a company before moving to France.
Bahloul told the Lot-et-Garonne Assize court that he attacked the woman after he was annoyed with her for repeatedly asking to borrow Sellotape, the report said.
He later said he murdered her because he wanted to get away from his family and spend his time in jail.
The investigators revealed graphic details of the woman’s murder during which she was strangled with a “piece of cord” and punched and kicked more than a dozen times.
“I have a client who feels safe in prison and wants to stay there. He struggles with freedom,” his lawyer said, adding that it is the first time in his 27 years of career he has seen such a case.
Bahloul told the court that “If you let me out, I’ll do it again”.
“The need to attack others has been part of his life for years. He attacked many people during his various hospitalisations, patients and nursing staff. He took pleasure in it,” his lawyer said.
One of Higginbotham’s friends from England who was present during the hearing told Ouest France: “She often asked me: ‘Am I making the right decision?’, and I replied: ‘Absolutely’.”
The woman’s brother who lived in England remained in the country due to poor health.
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