Briton arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Nice
A woman aged around 60 is in a critical condition after being stabbed three times in the courtyard entrance to her apartment building
A British man, 49, has been arrested in Nice on suspicion of attempted murder, after allegedly attacking the woman with a knife in the courtyard entrance of the apartment building where she lives.
Officers were called to an incident on avenue Georges Clemenceau, near the city’s train station, at around 00:30 on Sunday morning.
The man was reportedly stopped by a neighbour, who heard the woman's cries, rushed to help, and physically restrained the attacker before police arrived.
Police sources reportedly confirmed to local media Nice Matin that the attacker was armed with a knife and stabbed the woman three times – once in the abdomen and twice in the head.
Anti-crime squad (BAC) officers, already patrolling nearby, reached the scene shortly after a phone call was made to the police emergency number 17, and they arrested the suspect.
“At first, I thought it was just two neighbours who had got into an argument. I could see him hitting someone who was no longer reacting. I hadn't seen the knife,” the neighbour, aged 33, who was working at his computer at the time, told Nice Matin.
Entering the apartment lobby to try and help the woman, he says he was threatened in English, with the attacker saying, according to Nice Matin, “don’t ***ing come or I’ll kill you.”
The neighbour said he managed to disarm the attacker and restrain him, while attempting to staunch the victim’s wounds at the same time.
You can watch an interview with the neighbour on the Nice Matin website (in French) here.
The mayor of Nice, Eric Ciotti, praised the courage of the neighbour in a post on social media.
Cette nuit à Nice, avenue Georges Clémenceau, une femme agressée sauvagement à l’arme blanche a échappé au pire grâce au courage héroïque de l’un de ses voisins.
— Eric Ciotti (@eciotti) August 16, 2026
Je salue cet homme, qui est intervenu et a réussi à maîtriser l’auteur, ainsi que l’action rapide de la BAC qui a…
The woman remains in critical condition in hospital. The assailant was also injured and hospitalised and remains under arrest.
Le Figaro reports the Nice public prosecutor’s office as having confirmed the age and nationality of the man and the fact he was arrested for murder in connection with the attack in the early hours of Sunday night in avenue Georges Clémenceau.
“The investigation has been entrusted to the criminal investigation unit of the Nice local judicial police force, and will help clarify the circumstances and context of the attack,” said the local public prosecutor on Sunday.
It is unclear whether the man knew the victim, or whether it was a random attack.
However, the neighbour who came to help said he recognised the victim as a neighbour, and he said he had seen the man several times before in the building’s vicinity.
