From stealing sweets to daring prison breaks: The story of France's infamous gangster Redoine Faid
Evie Burrows-Taylor - [email protected]
Published: 3 Oct, 2018 CET.Updated: Wed 3 Oct 2018 10:42 CET
After a three-month manhunt French police finally caught up with Redoine Faid on Wednesday, but who is the notorious gangster who keeps leaving French authorities red-faced? French police finally arrested the country's most notorious gangster on Wednesday after a three-month manhunt following his spectacular jailbreak aboard a hijacked helicopter. Redoine Faid, 46, broke out of the prison near Paris with the help of two accomplices who used smoke bombs and angle grinders to make their way into the facility's visiting room where Faid was talking to a brother. The men quickly made a spectacular escape by helicopter in an operation which lasted just 10 minutes. And this isn't the first time the well known gangster has made headlines. So, what do we know about him? His life of crime started early Faid was born to a large family in Creil in northern France where they lived on a housing estate. It was here that he was finally arrested on Wednesday. Aged just six, he committed his first theft when he left a supermarket with a shopping trolley full of sweets. He has previously said in interviews that he first knew stealing was his vocation aged 12 and he later became involved in more serious crime, eventually earning the nickname the "terror of Creil" from the local police. READ ALSO:
Photo: AFP
In 1995, he committed his first serious robbery aged 23 when he held up a branch of French bank BNP Paribas in his hometown and took the family of the director of the bank hostage. In 1998, he attacked a cash-in-transit van in the northeaster Paris suburb of Villepinte and was sentenced to 18 years of behind bars. This isn't the first time he has escaped In April 2013, Faid staged another shameless jailbreak by pulling a gun from his bag in the visitor's room of the prison near Sequedin in northern France and taking four prison guards hostage. Faid then used a tissue-box containing explosives to meticulously blast his way through four gates on his way to the car park, where he released his prisoners and set off in a car. 
Photo: AFP The torched vehicle was later found by the side of a road near Lille. Police tracked him down in the suburbs of Paris and arrested him at the end of the following May. He loves gangster movies At a Paris film festival in April 2009, Faid approached Michael Mann, director of the 1995 gangster film "Heat" starring Al Pacino and Robert Niro, telling him: "You were my technical adviser." He wrote that he had watched the film dozens of times to perfect his bank-robbing prowess. In one of the two books he has written about growing up as a criminal in the suburbs of the French capital, he wrote that he had seen "Heat" dozens of times and that it had inspired his robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles. His writing career led to police giving him another nickname, "The Author" and Faid, who has a cult following in the tough immigrant suburbs outside Paris where he grew up, has made several television appearances promoting his work. 
Photo: AFP Sentenced to 25 years He has been behind bars since mid-2011 for breaking the terms of his parole over past convictions for bank robberies and brazen heists of cash-in-transit vehicles. In April, Faid was sentenced to 25 years for masterminding a botched armed robbery in 2010 in which French policewoman, Aurélie Fouquet was killed. Faid had earlier been released from a 10-year stint behind bars after convincing parole officers that he regretted his criminal past and was determined to start afresh. "My demons aren't asleep, they're completely dead," he previously told LCI. He also said in an interview with Canal Plus TV that he had "turned a page". Apparently not. Comments
See Also
French police finally arrested the country's most notorious gangster on Wednesday after a three-month manhunt following his spectacular jailbreak aboard a hijacked helicopter.
Redoine Faid, 46, broke out of the prison near Paris with the help of two accomplices who used smoke bombs and angle grinders to make their way into the facility's visiting room where Faid was talking to a brother.
The men quickly made a spectacular escape by helicopter in an operation which lasted just 10 minutes.
And this isn't the first time the well known gangster has made headlines.
So, what do we know about him?
His life of crime started early
Faid was born to a large family in Creil in northern France where they lived on a housing estate. It was here that he was finally arrested on Wednesday.
Aged just six, he committed his first theft when he left a supermarket with a shopping trolley full of sweets.
He has previously said in interviews that he first knew stealing was his vocation aged 12 and he later became involved in more serious crime, eventually earning the nickname the "terror of Creil" from the local police.
READ ALSO:
Photo: AFP
In 1995, he committed his first serious robbery aged 23 when he held up a branch of French bank BNP Paribas in his hometown and took the family of the director of the bank hostage.
In 1998, he attacked a cash-in-transit van in the northeaster Paris suburb of Villepinte and was sentenced to 18 years of behind bars.
This isn't the first time he has escaped
In April 2013, Faid staged another shameless jailbreak by pulling a gun from his bag in the visitor's room of the prison near Sequedin in northern France and taking four prison guards hostage.
Faid then used a tissue-box containing explosives to meticulously blast his way through four gates on his way to the car park, where he released his prisoners and set off in a car.
Photo: AFP
The torched vehicle was later found by the side of a road near Lille.
Police tracked him down in the suburbs of Paris and arrested him at the end of the following May.
He loves gangster movies
At a Paris film festival in April 2009, Faid approached Michael Mann, director of the 1995 gangster film "Heat" starring Al Pacino and Robert Niro, telling him: "You were my technical adviser."
He wrote that he had watched the film dozens of times to perfect his bank-robbing prowess.
In one of the two books he has written about growing up as a criminal in the suburbs of the French capital, he wrote that he had seen "Heat" dozens of times and that it had inspired his robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles.
His writing career led to police giving him another nickname, "The Author" and Faid, who has a cult following in the tough immigrant suburbs outside Paris where he grew up, has made several television appearances promoting his work.
Photo: AFP
Sentenced to 25 years
He has been behind bars since mid-2011 for breaking the terms of his parole over past convictions for bank robberies and brazen heists of cash-in-transit vehicles.
In April, Faid was sentenced to 25 years for masterminding a botched armed robbery in 2010 in which French policewoman, Aurélie Fouquet was killed.
Faid had earlier been released from a 10-year stint behind bars after convincing parole officers that he regretted his criminal past and was determined to start afresh.
"My demons aren't asleep, they're completely dead," he previously told LCI.
He also said in an interview with Canal Plus TV that he had "turned a page".
Apparently not.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.