The regional court of Caen, in Normandy, released Patrick...

The regional court of Caen, in Normandy, released Patrick Henry after he had served 25 years of a life long prison sentence. He had kidnapped a seven year old child whist he was leaving school and strangled him hiding the body in a bag under his bed and asking the child's family for ransom money. He avoided execution by a whisper for the sole reason that his lawyer Robert Badinter, future Justice Minister, convinced the jury that capital punishment was a "barbarous act".