The biggest child abuse trial in French history will open in Brittany this month amid anger that a surgeon was allegedly able to attack hundreds of young patients over decades, targeting some when they were under anaesthetic, in the post-surgery recovery room or in their hospital beds.
France is braced for serious questions over child protection amid harrowing testimony from a record number of alleged victims of Joël Le Scouarnec, 73, who worked as a digestive surgeon. He was employed in public and private hospitals across Brittany and the west of France, often operating on children with appendicitis.