This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A 19-year-old apprentice butcher has received a suspended jail sentence for terrorising children while dressed as a clown with a stick resembling a long knife, in scenes reminiscent of a slasher movie.

The man, identified only as Thomas, was given a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 105 days’ community service by a judge in the northern French town of Béthune on Monday.

The court heard that the man, from Douvrin, had scared a six-year-old child, a group of teenagers and the owner of a chip stall in his clown suit on Friday evening.

Thomas, who screamed and brandished the weapon in a park before being chased and followed to his home by the chip stall owner, apologised to his victims at the court hearing.

He told the judge: “I saw it on Facebook. At first it was a joke, to scare my friends by dressing up as a clown and shouting boo with a stick like on Facebook. On the video it was a knife, but I didn’t intend to hurt anyone.”

Thomas’s mother described his actions as a bad joke and said she was resentful at what she called a harsh sentence. His charge of premeditated violence with a weapon carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail and a €45,000 (£35,000) fine.

The judge, who said Thomas would be allowed to continue his apprenticeship, hoped a suspended prison sentence would deter any other copycats. A spate of similar incidents have been reported in other northern towns and in the south-west, but Thomas was the first to be arrested.

According to France3 television, four fake clowns with a chainsaw were reported to have terrorised primary school children last Thursday in the northern town of Liévin before fleeing in a car.