28-04-2025
Wrongful Glasgow Airport arrest to be made into feature film
On 11 October 2019, a man was arrested after arriving on a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, believed to be murder suspect Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès.
In April 2011, the body of his wide Agnès; his four children Arthur, Thomas, Anne and Benoît; and the two family dogs were found buried under the garden of the family home.
Mr Dupont de Ligonnès has not been seen since but is considered the prime suspect in the murders and an Interpol alert indicated he may have travelled to Glasgow on a fake passport.
A passenger was arrested by Police Scotland who fingerprinted him and told the French authorities "this is your man".
The following day more thorough fingerprinting and a DNA test were carried out and it was established that the man was in fact a Portuguese-born French national called Guy Joao who was visiting his wife in Dunoon.
A film about the event, Mauvaise Pioche (Bad Choice) directed by Gérard Jugnot will be released in the easter of 2026.
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Filming began last week in Marseille and Martigues and is due to last until the end of May, though it's not currently known if any of it will be shot on location at Glasgow Airport.
Mr Jugnot will play Mr Joao himself, alongside a cast including Philippe Lacheau, Zabou Breitman, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Michelle Laroque and François Morel.
He told RTL: "It's the story of an ordinary man thrown into the extraordinary who will take his revenge. I thought it was a great starting point for a comedy.
"I like a comedy to talk about things which are a little real, with a social aspect."
