400 face DNA test in firebug hunt

AROUND 400 men aged between 15 and 75 are to face DNA tests to try to find the firebug who is blamed for eight fires in 12 months in Larmor-Baden in Morbihan.

The small town has 800 residents and all households will be visited by gendarmes to take mouth swabs in a three-week inquiry to find the arsonist who targeted holiday and empty homes.

Vannes procureur Thierry Phélippeau and Larmor-Baden mayor Denis Bertholom announced the move after nearly 14 months of fruitless investigation by the gendarmerie. Samples of DNA had been found at one of the eight attacks.

The first fires were on December 17, 2011, when three holiday homes were set alight, followed on January 14, 2012 with an outbreak at an empty post office house and two days later by an empty house in Port-Lagaden.

Police said they thought the firebug was someone who lived alone and who knew the area intimately.