Deranged neighbour shot dead Brit girl Solaine Thornton, 11, after ‘years raging about noisy kids & trimmed hedge’
A DERANGED neighbour who fumed for years over noise and hedge trimming allegedly shot dead a little girl and severely wounded her parents in a horrific rampage.
The 71-year-old - named by an investigating source as Dirk Raats - shot dead Solaine Thornton, 11, as she played on the swings with her sister Celeste, 8, during a family barbecue in France.
Celeste managed to escape - and raised the alarm with another neighbour in the tightly knit community after the family were blasted with the 22. calibre hunting rifle.
Her sister died at the scene after being shot in the heart, while her dad Adrian, 52, is fighting for his life after being shot in the head.
Solaine's mum Rachael, 49, is wounded after being hit in the back.
The young girl was "not the target" of the fatal gunshot, officials have said.
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Speaking at a press conference, public prosecutor Camille Miansoni said it did not appear that the neighbour had been aiming at the girl when he fired the shot.
He said: "It would seem that he was not aiming at the little girl."
Neighbours have revealed how Raats was a "distant" and "cocooned" recluse who only ever spoke to others in the tiny hamlet when he moaned about noise.
Play equipment including swings, a slide, a seesaw, and a trampoline can be seen in a shady spot under an oak tree at the back of Thorntons' garden.
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It seems like a perfect spot for two kids to play in the safety of their own home.
But it is overlooked by the green-shuttered house occupied by the gunman - who was described as a gruff, withdrawn man with "long white hair".
Raats moved to the town along with his wife Marlene Van Hook about six years ago.
The couple is understood to have been desperate for solitude - moving to the sleepy village in Brittany in pursuit of a very quiet and isolated life.
But when the bubbly young family with two kids moved in next door about four years ago, trouble is said to have begun.
"If we came to live in Saint-Herbot, it's to be quiet. And now, from the road, we can be seen," Marlene is reported to have moaned to a pal.
"[Now] we can't even go eat in the garden in the summer."
Neighbours had nothing but good words to say about the family of four - saying they were "adorable".
Adrian would do odd jobs around the village and Rachael helped with home care while the children would play with other kids in the village.
But the elderly Dutchman is quickly reported to have become fixated on the Thorntons.
Pictures show his property - a former schoolhouse - looming over the large garden around the family's ex-sawmill house close to the local church.
And at some point, the hedges and trees - which once concealed the Raats' home - appear to have been trimmed back.
Two outbuildings - one which blocked the road from the view of the couple's house and another along the back line of Thorntons' property - also appear to have been knocked down.
Pictures from 2011 appear to show the property now occupied by Raat and Van Hook nearly completely shrouded in thick hedges.
And meanwhile, pictures from 2020 show the undergrowth cleared - and the property now visible from the road after the sheds were knocked down.
It is unclear exactly when this occurred - but neighbours reported the Thorntons cleared some of the land around their house around three years ago.
And this is what sparked the fury from Raats, leading to an initial row which also saw him produce a gun.
Raats owned a licenced hunting rifle - and he was allowed to keep it after the initial dispute. He is also understood to have owned a revolver.
Raats spoke briefly on Monday evening as he was formally charged with the murder of 11-year-old Solaine and the attempted murders of her parents.
Appearing before a judge at Brest Criminal Court, he said: "It’s so horrible what happened. I don't understand."
Judges confirmed a test showed he was "on drugs" on Saturday.
He was remanded in custody following the charges and could spend the rest of his life in prison if found guilty at trial.
The public prosecutor said he has had an evaluation and there is no evidence to suggest he is "unhinged."
Officials said Solaine was "not the target" of the fatal gunshot.
Miansoni said, translated by BBC: "He has agreed to all his rights, he's been seen by a doctor, for example, and there is no evidence to suggest that he is unhinged psychologically."
He continued to explain both guns had been bought in France, adding: "The firearms were purchased in France, he said in the south of France for one and in Normandy with regard to the other a couple of years ago.
"One needed authorisation, and it wasn't, and the other needed a statement made which wasn't available either."
Marlene was said to be a "pleasant neighbour" who "said hello to people", but her husband was gruff and withdrawn.
"He was after Adrian and Rachael," one neighbour told .
“This guy has lived there with his wife for several years and had no contact with anyone - except to complain about the noise."
Another local said: "He was also regularly upset about the noise the family made, even though it didn't bother anyone else – it was mainly just kids having a nice time."
Two other neighbours, Sébastien and Marie-Céline, who live in the school complex alongside the Raats and Van Hook, described him as "very distant".
"Three years ago, he made a big deal to Adrian and Rachael about the clearing they had done and which prevented him from feeling at home.
"He had already threatened with a weapon, the gendarmes had intervened.
"His wife was more polite, but from that day on we kept a low profile and just said hello, good evening."
Another neighbour named Françoise said the neighbour often complained about the family making too much noise.
He said: "But it was in the daytime and they didn’t make more noise than anyone else. No one else was bothered by it."
One resident said the suspect and his wife ";spoke to no one".
Marguerite Bleuzen, mayor of Plonévez-du-Faou, said: "I can't stop someone from cleaning his garden, from trimming the hedge.
"I think he wanted to live in his little cocoon and that having people next to him, he didn't like it."
She added: "There was a problem with the land around their properties, and with noise pollution – it started from there.
"The family was well known and liked. There is a village fete every year and they always came. It's incomprehensible to have shot a child.
"No one can understand how that could have happened."
The Thornton family were enjoying the warm evening on Saturday when their neighbour opened fire.
Solaine was killed and Celeste was life running for help, screaming "my sister is dead".
The two girls were playing on a swingset with their parents sitting nearby on a bench.
Yannick Valory, who lives nearby, held back tears as he described the horrific scene as Celeste came running screaming for help.
"We were watching TV around 9pm with my wife. We heard the sound of firecrackers. It surprised me, so I walked out," said Yannick.
"I saw the youngest of the girls opposite come running and rush to my neighbours, whom she knows better.
"She was screaming that her sister was dead and took refuge with them.
"I crossed to access their garden. There was no shooter. But I saw the prone body of her big sister. I couldn't do anything for her, she was dead."
The shooter was arrested after at first barricading himself inside his house with his wife.
He faces a murder charge, and three attempted ones, a local police source said.
Prosecutor Carine Halley said: "The reasons for this tragedy are not yet known.
"It would appear that a conflict has been opposing the two neighbours for several years over a plot of land adjoining the two properties."
The girls' grandfather Irvin Thornton said the police arrived at his house in Oldham, Lancs, on Sunday night to break the devastating news of Solaine's death.
He told The Sun Online: “We don’t know exactly what has gone on.
"How can a 71-year-old man shoot a little girl?
“There might have been a dispute over land but you do not do that.
“She didn’t stand a chance.
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“And in front of her sister. How is she going to get over that? It will live with her forever.”
Mr Thornton, 77, said he is set to fly out to France and said his son Adrian was still in a coma.
