France shocked by cannibalism in prison 05/01/2007 00:00

The 35-year-old prisoner -- named by the French daily Le Parisien as Nicolas Cocaigne -- had confessed to the gory attack, confirmed by an autopsy, state prosecutor Joseph Schmit said in a statement.

"I have been told that two sections of muscle had been removed in the thorax, and that the upper part of the left lung of the victim was missing," Schmit said.

"The absence of these body parts -- which have not been found at the scene of the crime -- make the suspect's confession of an act of cannibalism very probable."

The attack occurred Wednesday night in a detention centre in the northwestern city of Rouen.

The body of the 31-year-old victim, identified as Thierry Baudry, was found early Thursday when guards opened the cells.

According to the prosecutor, he had been beaten, cut with scissors and a razor, strangled and finally asphyxiated with a plastic bag.

A third detainee in the cell, a man aged 34, initially said he slept through the attack but later recanted. He, too, was facing murder charges and was to be questioned along with Cocaigne by an investigating magistrate Friday.

The prisons authority said the three men had requested to share the cell several days previously. It was not immediately known what motivated the attack.

Copyright AFP

Subject: French news