French court convicts associates of jihadists who killed Catholic priest

FILE PHOTO: People hold a banner with a picture of French priest Father Jacques Hamel, which reads, "Where there is hatred, let me sow love," after a mass paying tribute at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - Three acquaintances of the teenage assailants who murdered an 85-year-old Catholic priest as he celebrated mass in his church in 2016 were respectively sentenced to 8, 10 and 13 years in prison for "criminal terrorist association", French media reported on Wednesday.

Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean cut the throat of Father Jacques Hamel at the foot of the altar of his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, and wounded a worshipper they took hostage before being shot dead by police.