Emile Soleil: Grandparents released in probe into toddler's death in France
The grandparents of Emile Soleil have been released without charge, two days after they were arrested over the toddler's disappearance and death in the French Alps in July 2023.Philippe Vedovini and his wife, Anne, were among four people detained earlier this week on suspicion of murder and concealment of a corpse.The other two, both adult children of the couple, were also released without charge on Thursday morning, prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon confirmed.Mr Blachon also revealed for the first time that investigators now believe Emile's clothes and remains were transported to the woods where they were found shortly before their discovery last spring.
Mr Blachon added that analysis of the toddler's skull showed traces of "violent facial trauma" which made it probable that a third party had been involved in Emile's disappearance and death.Until Thursday, one of investigators' working theories was that Emile may have wandered off by himself and died as a result of a fall. The four people who were taken into custody on Tuesday were released after answering all the questions put to them by investigators, Mr Blachon said, though he added that the line of investigation centred around Emile's family members was not yet fully closed. "We continue to be determined to shed light on the circumstances around Emile's death," Mr Blachon said.Under French law, people can be placed under arrest for questioning for a set number of hours until police decide whether they may have been involved in a crime. Emile's grandmother's lawyer, Julien Pinelli, said that Mrs Vedovini was now resting. "It's been a tense and trying 48 hours," he said."In an investigation of this kind... it is customary to try and rule some things out. The family [angle] was one of the lines of inquiry, it's what prompted the custody and I hope it can now be put to the side."The last sighting of Emile was on 8 July 2023, when two neighbours saw him walking by himself on the only street in the tiny Alpine hamlet Haut-Vernet, where he was staying at his grandparents' holiday home. Emile, who was then two-and-a-half years old, disappeared without a trace shortly after. Hundreds of people joined police, sniffer dogs and the military in a search the following day, but the toddler appeared to have vanished into thin air. It was not until March 2024 that Emile's remains were found only 1km away from the village by a hiker who was said to have made the find while walking in a steep, wooded area that was not easy to access.The toddler's disappearance and death shocked France, where the case continues to make headlines.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Woman wins £8k compensation payout over 'holiday row' with Scots charity
A judge ruled Lydia Magloire should be paid nearly £8,000 as compensation for "financial loss and injury to feelings" from Edinburgh charity Earth in Common. A French woman who sued an Edinburgh charity has won thousands of pounds in compensation from her former employers, a judge has ruled. Lydia Magloire took legal action against Edinburgh non-profit Earth in Common. Edinburgh Live covered the proceedings at the Employment Tribunal in February where Ms Magloire alleged she suffered detriment due to being French, among other claims. Employment Judge Macleod ruled that Ms Magloire should be paid "£7,642.48 by way of compensation for financial loss and injury to feelings". The judge released his decision on June 5, dismissing the claims of racial discrimination but carrying other claims, reports Edinburgh Live. A report states: "The claimant's claim of indirect discrimination on the grounds of race fails, and is dismissed". However, Judge Macleod found the respondent refused to grant Ms Magloire annual leave and warned her "if she took her holidays she would be dismissed". The report also states Ms Magloire "was dismissed because she raised a protected disclosure" and "was therefore automatically unfairly dismissed". At the Edinburgh Employment Tribunal, Ms Magloire claimed she was 'humiliated' by the company on the basis of her English proficiency. She also claimed one of her managers had a 'strong Aberdeen accent' that was 'hard to understand'. Representing herself at the tribunal, Ms Magloire alternated between answering questions in English and speaking through an interpreter. She became involved with the organisation as a volunteer in 2019, eventually beginning employment at the charity in 2021 as a coordinator. Her employment was terminated on August 21, 2023. The court heard that Earth in Common dismissed Ms Magloire for 'unsatisfactory performance,' which she contested. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The court heard Earth in Common dismissed Ms Magloire due to 'unsatisfactory conduct'. The charity claimed Ms Magloire refused to engage with email correspondence, lead workshops, and she booked an extended holiday without approval during one of the charity's busiest months in 2023. Ms Magloire contested that her performance was unsatisfactory, claiming Ms Murray was aware of her intention to take holiday and that she booked the trip prior to her leave being approved to secure cheaper tickets. She told the court she was 'surprised' by her dismissal as she thought that she was doing a 'great job' in her role. She acknowledged her English speaking and writing was not the best but she was improving her proficiency. Ms Magloire added: 'I was very sad. I invested myself a lot in the company. I was totally destroyed emotionally.' Ms Magloire secured new employment at the Edinburgh Zoo in December 2023 where she works 37.5 hours per week as a groundskeeper. She now earns more income than when she was employed at Earth in Common, where she worked 26 hours per week. Earth in Common was founded in 2013 by Evie Murray in an effort to give locals access to outdoor spaces in an urban environment. It repurposed unused land at the northern extremity of Leith Links into community crofts. The charity also runs a cafe and farm shop, which sells local produce. It regularly holds community events focusing on skill-building, exercise, and mental wellbeing.
Scottish Sun
10 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Tactic people smugglers use to get young male migrants past French cops onto dinghies to UK revealed
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PEOPLE smugglers are using women and children as human shields in a diversion tactic to get past French police - before mostly men make it onto a dinghy. Families with young babies and kids were put at the front of the queue of migrants entering the vast beach from the sand dunes in Gravelines, near Calais, yesterday with young men trailing behind. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 People-smugglers are using women and children as a diversion tactic to get young male migrants past French police Credit: Getty The diversionary tactics meant the 40 police officers, armed and waiting with pepper spray and tear gas, remained calm and did not use force against the group straight away to avoid injuring the children. Instead, officers kettled the group and successfully marched them off back into the sand dunes. But, when the time was right and the police thought they had taken the group off the beach, a group of mostly men suddenly sprinted off into the sand dunes before making a break for it back onto the beach. Most of the migrants with children did not return to the beach. It comes after senior Labour minister Darren Jones was slammed after suggesting on BBC's Question Time that the majority of migrants entering by small boats that he had seen were women and children. A dramatic cat and mouse game followed yesterday with tear gas being fired over Gravelines beach in an attempt to keep migrants away from the sea. But they failed to stop a nearby dinghy from picking up the migrants and it left for British shores with mostly men on board. It comes after official figures showed that more than 919 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Friday on 14 dinghies - averaging around 66 people per boat. It has taken the provisional annual total to 16,183, which is 42 per cent higher than the same point last year and 79 per cent up on the same date in 2023. The highest daily number so far this year was 1,195 on May 31.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Holocaust denier who fled to Scotland back on trial
The 56-year-old was arrested in November 2022 following a two-year search for his whereabouts led by France's Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes, which began after the memorial of Oradour-sur-Glane, where Nazi troops killed and destroyed an entire village in June of 1944, was vandalised by graffiti which read 'Reynouard is right'. His arrest came after a domestic warrant issued by a French court regarding seven videos made between September 2019 and April 2020, including one where he allegedly described the Nazi atrocities as 'crude slanders' and another where he spoke of 'the Jewish problem'. The alleged offences included 'public trivialisation of a war crime' and 'public challenge to the existence of crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War'. Vincent Reynouard was arrested in Anstruther in November, 2022 (Image: Herald Scotland) Holocaust denial has been a criminal offence in France since 1990 and Reynouard has been convicted on previous occasions, including being handed prison sentences in November 2020 and January 2021. His convictions date back as far as 1991 when he was sentenced for distributing leaflets denying the existence of the gas chambers among high school students. Reynouard was handed over to French authorities in February last year after spending 15 months on remand at HMP Edinburgh. Back in March this year, Reynouard was sentenced to 12 months in prison at the Judicial Court of Paris after being found guilty of denying war crimes, denying crimes against humanity and inciting racial hatred. He was also ordered by the court to pay €10,000 in damages to associations including French organisation LICRA (The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism) and the Jewish Observatory of France. The public prosecutor had originally requested an 18-month prison sentence and a €15,000 fine. READ MORE: Notorious Holocaust denier arrested in Scots fishing village French Holocaust denier loses bid to appeal against extradition Holocaust denier gives pro-Nazi lecture after extradition to France According to AFP, a sentencing judge was due to determine how Reynouard will serve his prison sentence. Responding to the sentencing at the time, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told The Herald: 'Vincent Reynouard is a despicable Holocaust-denier who has repeatedly been convicted by French courts. "We are pleased that, following our previous success in having him deported from the UK to face justice in France, Mr Reynouard has been jailed. Now, he will be forced to face the consequences of his hatred behind bars—where he belongs.' Now The Herald can reveal that Reynouard stood trial at the Judicial Court of Paris at the end of May charged with "contesting crimes against humanity". The charges relate to allegations he made statements denying the occurrence of the Holocaust in a five-minute video clip promoting his latest book. Vincent Reynouard's convictions date back as far as 1991 (Image: Getty) Reports in France say a verdict on the charges - for which French prosecutors are requesting a minimum sentence of eight months imprisonment and a €5,000 euro fine - will be returned on July 11. In June last year, The Herald revealed that Reynouard hosted a pro-Nazi lecture in the southern French city of Perpignan just weeks after his extradition from Scotland. The lecture was broadcast online by French neo-Nazi website Jeune Nation - named after the most prominent French neo-fascist movement of the 1950s - and appeared in full on YouTube before being removed for violating the video sharing platform's terms of service. Screengrabs from the lecture, posted on extremist online platform Gab, showed Reynouard reading from a lectern in front of a flag for fascist pan-European alliance APF. Billed as 'a fascinating presentation that re-establishes the facts and offers a completely different vision of history', Reynouard's lecture on 'The challenging politics of revisionism' had among its list of 'discussed subjects' such topics as 'The invention of National Socialist crimes to cover up Allied war crimes', 'Enlisting youth against anti-fascism' and 'The question of gas chambers'. Reynouard was then due to give a follow-up lecture on Nazism at an event in Paris some weeks later but it was shut down by the Parisian authorities. Shortly after his arrest in Scotland in 2022, Reynouard said he expected to spend at least 'five years or more' in prison should he be extradited back to France. In a letter from his prison cell addressed to French far-right weekly magazine Rivarol, seen by The Herald, Reynouard wrote: 'Back in France, I will serve several prison sentences for 'disputing crimes against humanity'. 'In total, these sentences exceed 24 months (29 months to be exact). There will undoubtedly be other convictions for the same reason, because since my exile in Great Britain, in June 2015, I have published many revisionist videos likely to fall under the Gayssot law [which makes it an offence in France to question the existence or size of the category of crimes against humanity as defined in the London Charter of 1945]. 'Several are not time-barred, either having been published less than a year ago or already being sued. Therefore, I expect to stay in prison for five years or more.'
