An infamous cannibal who killed a farmer and cooked his heart and tongue with white beans briefly escaped custody and attacked a woman while she was walking her dog.
Jeremy Rimbaud, 34, was convicted of murdering a 90-year-old farmer Leopold Pedebidau and chopping up his body.
The former soldier, who served in Afghanistan, grabbed his latest victim in Toulouse, France, on Wednesday and punched her in the back of the head.
Rimbaud was stopped and returned to the psychiatric ward he has been contained in since 2011. An investigating source said Rimbaud's victim was "absolutely terrified".
"The lady was out walking her dog close to the centre of the city when Rimbaud struck, they said.
"He punched her in the back of the head and then hit her with a stick, before passers-by intervened, and chased him off. It was only later that she was told that she had been attacked by a known cannibal."
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Ribaud returned from Afghanistan in June 2011, after serving as a soldier fighting the Taliban.
Later that year, in November, he murdered 90-year-old farmer Leopold Pedebidau in Nouilhan, west of Toulouse, before chopping up his body and eating them.
Prosecution papers later described how Rimbaud ‘cut out his victim’s tongue and a piece of his heart, to cook them with white beans.’
The ex-soldier was caught as he tried to murder a second farmer, and was later branded "The Cannibal of the Pyrenees" after he was sentenced to life in prison for murder.
Rimbaud was ‘diagnosed with schizophrenia and was suffering from post-traumatic shock linked to his fighting in Afghanistan.’
A local police spokesman said on Friday: ‘The convicted killer has been returned to custody.’ He said an enquiry was underway to try and find out how he escaped.
