Irishman given suspended sentence for Holocaust-related threats in French hypermarket

Patrick O’Brien, a 60-year-old Irishman living near Avignon, has received a six-month suspended prison sentence after threatening a Jewish woman in a French hypermarket. The case matters because the court convicted him of aggravated death threats and attempting to justify crimes against humanity, following remarks invoking Hitler and the Holocaust.

The incident took place in August after a conversation with an Australian couple turned to Ireland’s policy on Israel. O’Brien was ordered to pay €500 to each victim and €300 each to two Jewish organisations; judges declined prosecutors’ request to bar him from France for three years. He admitted making the remarks and said he regretted them, while one organisation said the sentence was too lenient.