French prisoner killed and ate cellmate ‘to take his soul’

A prisoner murdered and ate his cellmate to "take over his soul", a court in France heard today.

Nicolas Cocaign, 35, stabbed Thierry Baudry, 41, with scissors and suffocated him with a plastic bag before trying to cut out his heart with a razor blade in Rouen jail. He missed the heart and took out part of a lung, which he cooked on a camping stove with onions.

A court in Rouen heard he had argued with Baudry, accusing him of blocking the lavatory with paper, and launched the attack after being given a "dirty look".

He told the judge: "I thought by eating his heart I could take over his soul." Cocaign is charged with murder and torture. The trial continues.