NANTERRE, June 29 (AFP) - The policeman who killed a French teenager in a Paris suburb on Tuesday (Jun 27), sparking violent protests across the country, has apologised to the family while in custody, his lawyer said.

"The first words he pronounced were to say sorry and the last words he said were to say sorry to the family," Laurent-Franck Lienard told BFMTV late Thursday.

"He is devastated, he doesn't get up in the morning to kill people," Lienard said. "He didn't want to kill him."

France has been hit by protests after 17-year-old Nahel was shot point-blank in Nanterre during a traffic stop captured on video that has unleashed rage and reignited debate about police tactics.

Lienard said the policeman was "extremely shocked by the violence of this video".

The officer has been charged with voluntary homicide and remanded in custody.

Lienard said he would on Friday appeal his client being placed in custody.