A prisoner dubbed France's Hannibal Lecter has been jailed for 30 years after ripping out his cellmate's lung and eating it.
Nicolas Cocaign admitted responsibility at the court in Rouen: "I made several appeals for help, saying I was a man capable of being dangerous. I took action, and then they took me seriously."
The 39-year-old was found guilty for the murder of Thierry Baudry in 2007.
He said he flew into an "uncontrollable" rage after Baudry gave him a "dirty look" after he ordered him to wash his hands after using the toilet in the tiny cell they shared.
"I had a sexual urge, an adrenaline rush," Cocaign had told the transfixed court.
Cocaign strangled Baudry and cut open his chest with a razor blade.
Thinking it was his cellmate's heart, Cocaign then ripped out a piece of Baudry's lung and ate part of it raw before cooking the rest.
"What I did, I liked doing," said Cocaign, 37, who has a shaved head and whose face is covered in tattoos.
He will have to serve at least 20 years of his sentence but risks seeing parole denied due to the horrific nature of the admitted crime.
Aware of his impulses, Cocaign had requested psychiatric help in 1998 and asked to be placed in isolation in 2006.
"It's exceptional to see a psychologically disturbed person say: I have to be treated," lawyer Fabien Picchiottino said in defence.
Lawyer Picchiottino called the case a "failure of the psychiatric, penitentiary and social system".
Cocaign had told the court he had a long history of mental problems and that the murder might have been avoided if prison authorities had not ignored his repeated appeals for psychological help.
The court had heard of Cocaign's troubled life - he was adopted aged three, and has had many scrapes with the law.
At the time of the killing, he was behind bars on an armed robbery conviction and was awaiting trial in two other cases, including for attempted rape while armed.
Mental health experts had been asked to testify as to whether Cocaign was sufficiently sane to be responsible for his acts.
Nicolas Cocaign admitted responsibility at the court in Rouen: "I made several appeals for help, saying I was a man capable of being dangerous. I took action, and then they took me seriously."
The 39-year-old was found guilty for the murder of Thierry Baudry in 2007.
He said he flew into an "uncontrollable" rage after Baudry gave him a "dirty look" after he ordered him to wash his hands after using the toilet in the tiny cell they shared.
"I had a sexual urge, an adrenaline rush," Cocaign had told the transfixed court.
Cocaign strangled Baudry and cut open his chest with a razor blade.
Thinking it was his cellmate's heart, Cocaign then ripped out a piece of Baudry's lung and ate part of it raw before cooking the rest.
"What I did, I liked doing," said Cocaign, 37, who has a shaved head and whose face is covered in tattoos.
He will have to serve at least 20 years of his sentence but risks seeing parole denied due to the horrific nature of the admitted crime.
Aware of his impulses, Cocaign had requested psychiatric help in 1998 and asked to be placed in isolation in 2006.
"It's exceptional to see a psychologically disturbed person say: I have to be treated," lawyer Fabien Picchiottino said in defence.
Lawyer Picchiottino called the case a "failure of the psychiatric, penitentiary and social system".
Cocaign had told the court he had a long history of mental problems and that the murder might have been avoided if prison authorities had not ignored his repeated appeals for psychological help.
The court had heard of Cocaign's troubled life - he was adopted aged three, and has had many scrapes with the law.
At the time of the killing, he was behind bars on an armed robbery conviction and was awaiting trial in two other cases, including for attempted rape while armed.
Mental health experts had been asked to testify as to whether Cocaign was sufficiently sane to be responsible for his acts.