The Brits will always poke a little fun at the French. That's what the Pink Panther series was all about. Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, was the British idea of the French gendarme. So the BBC has a little fun with the French gendarme here too:

He staged [his first] escape less than half an hour after arriving at a prison in northern France , and spent six weeks on the run. [emphasis in original]
....

The prison courtyard where the helicopter landed was the only area not protected by anti-aircraft netting. Prison union representative Martial Delabroye said that was because inmates do not use it, "except to leave the prison".

                                   
                                                  [embarrassed laugh added]