French security chief talks of ‘malfunctions’ before police attack

France’s interior minister has acknowledged there were “malfunctions” that failed to prevent a deadly attack inside Paris police headquarters by an employee.

Christophe Castaner said on Sunday that the attacker was a “well-rated” police employee and had “no indication of radicalisation” in his internal file.

The Paris prosecutor said the attacker – who was killed after stabbing four people to death – was likely to have been in contact with members of an ultra-conservative Islamic movement.

Mr Castaner said during a television interview, “clearly there were malfunctions”, without elaborating.

He said the attacker had had an “altercation” with colleagues earlier about the deadly 2015 Islamic extremist attack on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, but that his colleagues had not pressed for any action against him.

Mr Castaner also dismissed calls for his resignation over the killings.