The friends of an Oldham couple whose 11-year-old daughter was allegedly shot dead by her neighbour in France have launched a fundraiser for the girl’s funeral.
Solaine, the daughter of Adrian Thornton and Rachael Thornton from Oldham, was killed by a fatal gunshot while in the garden of her home in Saint-Herbot, a village near the city of Quimper in Brittany, on Saturday June 10.
The 11-year-old and her sister Celeste, eight, were playing on garden swings during a family barbecue when a 71-year-old Dutch neighbour opened fire at them, according to the BBC.
State prosecutor Carine Halley said Solaine’s father Adrian, 53, was badly hurt when police arrived, while the younger girl was “safe and sound but in a state of shock”.
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Solaine’s mother Rachael, 49, was also hurt, but her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
This month a GoFundMe page has been set up on behalf of Solaine’s family to help raise money for her funeral.
The fundraiser has so far raised more than £3,000 and is aiming, it says, to “help a devasted family, who cannot believe that their loving and tight-knit family has been torn apart”.
The page reads: “Obviously, the killing of any child is devasting and needless. This family has been torn apart.
“Currently, Adrian is in a coma in ICU, Rachel is having her second bout of surgery to help remove the bullets and Celeste, having witnessed the killing of her sibling and serious wounding of her parents is being treated for shock.
“I am asking for people to donate whatever they can afford to help this family pay for their daughter's funeral or any other expenses related directly or indirectly due to this senseless killing of their child and attack on their beautiful family.”
According to the GoFundMe page, Adrian and Rachel, who have been together since college, relocated to France early on in their marriage where they went on to have their daughters.
The couple renovated and re-opened a hotel before settling in Saint-Herbot where Solaine and Celeste attended school and Rachel reportedly worked as a carer.
The page states that the family is not receiving sick pay despite having “lots of outgoings, which includes the care of many animals they also own.”
Speaking at a press conference on Monday June 12, public prosecutor Camille Miansoni said it did not appear that the Dutch neighbour had been aiming at Solaine when he fired the shot.
According to the Evening Standard, an investigating source said test results showed he was under the influence of drugs at the time, while Mr Miansoni said "there is no evidence to suggest that he is unhinged psychologically".
State prosecutor Carine Halley said after the shooting, the Dutchman retreated to his house where he barricaded himself in with his wife.
A negotiator eventually persuaded the couple to give themselves up and they were arrested.
Ms Halley said the 71-year-old had been in a “conflict” with the family over a plot of land beside their properties for “several years”.
A police spokeswoman said they were aware of a conciliation process between the families that began in 2019.
Translated by the BBC, she 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.”
To donate towards Solaine’s fundraiser, go to the GoFundMe page.
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