The Saint-Julien cathedral in Le Mans -

JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

The drama unfolded on the evening of December 31 and the suspects are now in pre-trial detention.

Two men have been indicted for murder after the death at Le Mans of an 18-year-old young man of Guinean origin who was probably killed with knives, a judicial source learned on Sunday.

"Two suspects, aged 18 and 25, residing in Le Mans and designated as having participated in the violence were taken into custody," said the prosecutor's office in Le Mans in a statement.

"The accused, both already convicted in particular for acts of violence, (were presented) to an investigating judge of the judicial court of Le Mans and indicted for the count of murder and placed in pre-trial detention", specifies the parquet.

Scuffles during the evening

According to the prosecution, the investigations carried out have made it possible "to establish that the facts had arisen during a clash against a backdrop of neighborhood rivalry between two groups of young men, some of whom were carrying knives".

"If (the two implicated) recognized their presence at the scene of the facts, they denied being at the origin of the deadly violence," the statement said.

On the evening of December 31, the police were notified of clashes between groups of individuals rue des sablons in Le Mans and the presence of a wounded.

On site, the emergency services noted the death of an 18-year-old young man, "carrying wounds probably inflicted by stabbing", recalls the prosecution.

"The victim, originally from Guinea, had ties to Le Mans for having resided there until recently," the same source said.

The Le Mans public prosecutor's office had opened an investigation into the murder charge, entrusted to the SRPJ in Angers and the DDSP in Sarthe.

The two accused face 30 years of criminal imprisonment, according to the Le Mans prosecutor's office.

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Le Mans: Two men in police custody after the death of an 18-year-old, stabbed

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  • Murder

  • Le Mans

  • Homicide

  • Justice