Bordeaux serial tyre puncturer jailed

A man who punctured about 6,000 car tyres in the French south-western city of Bordeaux has been jailed for a year.

Gilles Sarrailh awaiting trial in Bordeaux in May AFP

Gilles Sarrailh, 45, was sentenced to 12 months in prison plus six months suspended in May after being found guilty of puncturing thousands of tyres, apparently to express his bitterness at his treatment when he was a child.

But no committal warrant was issued and sentences of 12 months or less can be converted into community service or similar punishments.

However, he repeatedly ignored summons to report to the authorities and a court on Wednesday ruled that he must serve the sentence.

Sarrailh, who lived alone and received a disability allowance, estimated that he had punctured about 6,000 tyres.

He did so to express his anger at the French state's failure to protect him from mistreatment and sexual abuse while he was in a children's home and later adopted by a family, he said.

He operated at night and it took police three years to track him down.

Police also found mail that was not addressed to him in his possession on two separate occasions, leading to suspicion that he taken up a new form of compulsive behaviour and the opening of a new inquiry.