‘Getaway king’ French gangster who escaped prison in helicopter is jailed again

French gangster Redoine Faid says his ‘addiciton’ to freedom drove his escape

A jailed French gangster known as the “getaway king” after two dramatic escapes from prison - one involving a hijacked helicopter - will be locked up for a further 14 years.

Redoine Faid, who says he drew inspiration for his criminal career from French and American gangster films, escaped from Reau prison, southeast of Paris, in July 2018.

He had been in the prison’s visiting room when three men burst in and got him onto the aircraft, which had landed in one of the prison courtyards.

Just five years earlier, in April 2013, he escaped from Sequedin prison in the north of the capital, using explosives to blast through five prison doors, taking four prison wardens hostage, and escaping in two getaway cars.

Redoine Faid twice escaped jail (BFMTV/YouTube)

A self-described “freedom addict”, Faid, who has multiple convictions for armed robbery, went on trial earlier this month and was this week sentenced to 14 years additional years behind bars for the prison break.

The 51-year-old appeared at Assize Court with a smile and wearing a blue sweater. Among the 11 co-defendants were his two brothers, one of whom he greeted with a kiss, three nephews and a convicted member of the Corsica underworld.

Prosecutors had requested 22 years for the jailbreak, spearheaded by Faid’s brother Rachid, who took a helicopter pilot hostage and ordered him to fly to the prison. Rachid got 10 years for his involvement in the plot.

Three armed accomplices let off smoke bombs to confuse guards at the prison, one of the men - identified as Faid’s elder brother Rachid - used a disc grinder to cut through doors leading to the visiting room.

Faid had been receiving a visit from another brother, Brahim. Inmates of the prison cheered as the helicopter took off with its new passenger, with the operation taking just 10 minutes. Brahim told the court he had no idea about the plan and he was acquitted.

Helicopter used in jail break (EPA)

After Faid was sprung from the prison, the helicopter landed in Gonesse, a northeastern suburb of Paris, where he and his accomplices continued their escape by car.

Authorities later found a burnt-out black Renault suspected of being the getaway car in Aulnay-sous-Bois, another suburb of the capital. The assailants are thought to have changed vehicles, continuing their escape in a van.

Faid was arrested by special forces in October 2018 in an apartment located in the city of Creil, in the northern suburbs of Paris, having spent three months on the run. He had been seen dressed as a woman, wearing a burqa.

In 2017,  he was sentenced on appeal to 25 years in prison for masterminding a failed 2010 robbery, which claimed the life of a policewoman.

As a young delinquent in a troubled suburb north of Paris, Faid took his inspiration from gangster movies. He told the court it was his love of freedom that drove him to escape from jail.

"I’m in a concrete sarcophagus 23 hours out of 24… What am I going to do? Kick my heels indefinitely. I have an addiction which consumes me and which I cannot cure. I am addicted to freedom."