Paris attacks: Gunman Omar Ismail Mostefai a petty criminal with a record of radicalisation

French authorities Omar Ismail Mostefai has been named as one of the seven gunmen who killed 129 people in co-ordinated attacks in Paris on Friday night. A 29-year-old French citizen of Algerian origin, he lived in Chartres, according to emotional Facebook posts from the town's deputy mayor and local MP Jean-Pierre Georges.

Just 56 miles south of Paris, the small town of around 40,000 people is best known for its cathedral, which is considered one of the finest and best preserved Gothic cathedrals in Europe. However, Mostefai was born on 21 November 1985 in Courcouronnes, a quiet suburb on the southern tip of Paris. He would have turned 30 on Saturday.

Growing up in the town, between 2004-2010 he was convicted for petty crimes eight times, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, but did not serve any time in jail. His crimes included driving without a licence and insulting behaviour, according to Le Journal Du Centre newspaper.

The quiet terrorist

Mostefai's friends told the paper that he calmed down after the birth of his daughter, whose age is unknown, as is the state of Mostefai's relationship status.

Molins said that in 2010 Mostefai "was blacklisted by the police due to extreme behaviours, but never been classified into any illegal extremist groups". Although he was listed by the state security services "for his alleged Islamist radicalisation", Molins told the Le Monde newspaper that there was "no record" of Mostefai having any "criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise".

Police are still working to establish Mostefai's movements during this time in his life, but Chartre's mayor Jean-Pierre Gorges said that "since 2012, he did not move". "He made no noise," he said, adding that checks were still being made, but it did not look like Mostefai had worked either.

However, some residents told Le Journal du Centre that they thought the former footballer for the Beaulieu district, had left town "for two or three years". Police are trying to find out whether he travelled to Syria in 2014, judicial sources told Agence France Presse (AFP).

Identified by a body part

Mostefai was identified after investigators found a severed finger at the scene of the worst atrocity, the Bataclan concert hall where more than 80 people died, according to local media reports. His father, brother and sister-in-law are among six people close to Mostefai who have reportedly been taken into police custody.

"It's crazy, insane. I was in Paris myself last night, I saw what a mess it was," Mostefai's older brother told AFP before voluntarily attending a police station on Saturday.

Mostefai's brother added that he had not had contact with him for several years following family disputes, but said he was surprised to hear he had been radicalised.

He was one of six children in the family and had travelled to Algeria with his family and young daughter, the brother said.