Prisoner ‘killed his cellmate and ate his lung’

A FRENCH prisoner suspected of killing his cellmate and then eating part of the man’s lung has gone on trial in the Normandy city of Rouen.

Nicolas Cocaign confessed to the 2007 crimes in court yesterday.

He said that he is getting treatment and feels “stable”.

He is charged with murder and acts of barbarism and faces life in prison.

Thierry Baudry’s mutilated body was found in 2007 by a prison guard. An autopsy revealed that two chest muscles and part of his left lung were missing.

The episode was witnessed by a third cellmate, David Lagrue, 36, who it is understood, was so traumatised by the incident that he ended up committing suicide in November 2009.

At the time, a prosecutor said Cocaign confessed to stabbing his cellmate with scissors and suffocating him before removing part of an organ from his chest and eating it — though he mistakenly believed it was the victim’s heart, not his lung.

What started as a fight between the two men in the cell ended up with Cocaign beating his 41-year-old victim with his fists, then suffocating him with a bin bag and slashing his chest open with a pair of scissors.

“[I was] curious to see what he tasted like,” Cocaign told investigators.

Cocaign then broke one of Baudry’s ribs and removed his lung, mistaking it for the heart, eating part of it raw.

He then fried the rest with onions on a makeshift cooker in the cell in Rouen prison, France.

Cocaign was at the time in custody awaiting trial for attempted armed robbery.

Cocaign told the court the fight with his cellmate initially broke out in a row over personal hygiene.

The fight started because his cellmate, he said, “gave me a dirty look”.

Cocaign, claiming diminished responsibility, admitted he started the fight after an argument over a blocked toilet he shared with Baudry in the cell.

The court heard Cocaign punched Baudry a dozen times before stabbing and suffocating him.

The married father of four said he “wanted to take his soul”, later adding that he was “curious to see what he tastes like”.

Defence barrister Fabien Picchiottino said Cocaign suffered “severe psychological problems” and should be in a psychiatric institute.

A verdict is expected on Thursday.