A pensioner has appeared in court accused of the murder of a British schoolgirl and the attempted murder of both her parents.

Dirk Raats, 71, was formally charged yesterday with the murder of Solaine Thornton, 11, at her home in Saint-Herbot, near Quimper in Brittany, northern France.

He is also accused of the attempted murder of Adrian Thornton, 52, and Rachael Thornton, 49, who are originally from the Manchester area.

Solaine’s younger sister, eight-year-old Celeste, is understood to have managed to avoid the gunfire which took place while the girls were playing on swings in their family garden at around 9pm on Saturday.

The pensioner, who is a Dutch national, briefly appeared in front of a judge at Brest Criminal Court wearing a moustache and ponytail.

Speaking in broken French, he said: ‘It’s so horrible what happened. I don’t understand.’

Raats previously worked as a photographer, shepherd and carer for disabled people before retiring to France five years ago, the court heard.

He is understood to have been under the influence of drink and drugs at the time of the incident.

Defence barrister Anne Guillerme said he had ‘no criminal record’, but may have mental health problems.

Raats was remanded in custody following his appearance.

His wife Marlene van Hook, also in her 70s, is also being questioned by police on suspicion of concealing a weapon.

A press conference held in France yesterday revealed the two families had been in ‘conflict’ over a plot of land beside their properties for ‘several years’.

Public prosecutor Camille Miansoni confirmed a mediation process had been set up between the neighbours by the mayor’s office.

Translated by the BBC, a police spokesperson said: ‘It is true that we were warned in 2019 of the conciliation process with regard to the dispute between these two neighbours – but subsequently we haven’t had any kind of follow-up, and neither has there been any kind of criminal offence committed since.’

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Mr Miansoni added: ‘It would seem that he was not aiming at the little girl.’

Marguerite Bleuzen, mayor of Plonévez-du-Faou which covers Saint-Herbot, said there had been ‘some trouble with a neighbour dispute’ between the two families.

She said: ‘I intervened with my deputies when we were elected. There was a problem with the land around their properties, and with noise pollution – it started from there.’

Mrs Bleuzen said there had been ‘no emergency’ since, but was aware arguments had continued.

She added: ‘The family was well known and liked. There is a village fête every year and they always came.

‘It’s incomprehensible to have shot a child. No one can understand how that could have happened.’

Mr Thornton remained critical with life-threatening wounds in hospital as of yesterday, and is understood to be in a coma.

His wife is also in intensive care after the couple both underwent surgery.

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