The trial of an Algerian nanny accused of trying to poison the Jewish family she worked for opened Monday in Paris. Leila Y., 42, an illegal resident who cared for the family’s children, ages 2 and 7, is accused of pouring toilet-cleaning liquid containing bleach into the family’s food in January 2024.
Prosecutors say she also poured the substance into the mother’s cosmetic products and into a bottle of wine labeled “Jerusalem.”
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Star of David, 'The woman focused her hatred on the family inside their home'
(Photo: Roman Yanushevsky / Shutterstock)
The nanny, who introduced herself to others as “Nadine,” worked in the family’s home for two months. She quarreled with the family over pay and told investigators: “Jews have power and money. I never should have worked for a Jewish woman. I only had trouble with her. I was angry and they did not respect me. I knew they might suffer pain, but I did not think they would die.”
Leila later retracted her statement. However, a security guard at the children’s school said she had used antisemitic expressions and complained to him: “They are stingy. They did not want to pay me even one more euro. They have money, they can pay me.”
Investigators found searches on her phone for “victims in December 2023,” “barbaric Jews,” and “Jewish religious customs.” Posts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were also found on her Facebook page. The family’s children told investigators she often asked them about “Jewish religious customs,” and the older child said she saw the nanny “striking the mezuzahs several times.” After Leila’s arrest, the girl also told her mother that she had seen the nanny “pouring a foaming substance into the food, saying it was a punishment and a warning.”
According to the family, the day before they filed a complaint, the mother noticed foam in the grape juice and smelled bleach in the wine. “The pasta dish and the whiskey tasted like perfume, and when I removed my makeup my eyes were burning,” the mother said.
Police found high concentrations of polyethylene glycol in the whiskey, in a boukha drink, in the grape juice and in the pasta. The substance can cause serious damage to the digestive system. The family said they have security at the entrance to the home and that no one besides the couple had free access to it.
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A street in Paris, France, the defendant’s lawyer claims it was a financial dispute
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
The defendant’s lawyer told the newspaper Le Parisien that the case stemmed from a financial dispute, arguing that the substances were found only in products intended for the parents.
The family’s attorney, Patrick Klugman, said the case reflects the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents since the terrorist attack of October 7. He said the woman acted in the context of anti-Israeli propaganda and directed her hatred at the family inside their home.