Before said arrest, he had been sentenced for previous offences a total of three times in 1996 (in March for use and possession of narcotics, a 5,000 franc fine; a suspended year in prison and 240 hours of community service in June for robbery; and finally, on September 17th for assaulting several people in a laundry in the 13th arrondissement, near the highschool where he was educated - the owner of the laundry had called, complaining that his son had been attacked and threatened with a knife by Mamadou Traoré.