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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kim Willsher

Neighbour charged with fatally shooting British girl, 11, in France

Dirk Raats Solaine Thornton France Murder
Police investigators at the scene of the shooting in the village of Saint-Herbot, France.
Police investigators at the scene of the shooting in the village of Saint-Herbot, France. Photograph: Thierry Creux/EPA

A man has appeared in court in France charged with shooting dead an 11-year-old British girl who was playing in the garden of her family home.

The suspect, Dirk Raats, 70, a Dutch national originally from Antwerp in Belgium, has been officially put under investigation for the murder of Solaine Thornton and the attempted murder of her parents, Adrian and Rachel Thornton.

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