The accomplice of the perpetrator of the deadly terrorist attack on Strasbourg's Christmas market in 2018 will appeal against his 30-year jail sentence, his legal representative said on Friday.
"The result is disappointing for the defence," lawyer Michael Wacquez told the Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace newspaper.
"We have no choice but to appeal, the appeal is inevitable. There will be a second trial."
Five people were killed and eleven others injured in the attack with a firearm and a large knife in the eastern French city.
A Paris court convicted the 42-year-old main defendant on Thursday for providing the attacker with weapons and helping him to realise his plans.
The court was convinced the man was aware of the perpetrator's Islamist radicalisation. However, it acquitted the defendant of the charge of complicity. The accused and his defence lawyer had therefore hoped for a lighter sentence.
Two other defendants who helped to procure weapons without knowing about the attack plans were given prison terms of four and five years.
As they had already been in custody for some time and the remainder of their sentences were suspended or can be served with an electronic ankle tag, an appeal is unlikely in their case.
On the evening of December 11, 2018, Islamist radical Chérif Chekatt attacked passers-by in alleyways and squares. He initially managed to escape in a taxi. Two days later, following a manhunt, he was killed in a gun battle with security officers in Strasbourg.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia claimed responsibility for the attack. Chekatt had sworn allegiance to IS in a video and was known to the authorities as a threat.