A French court on Wednesday handed an 18-year prison term to an Italian man accused of overseeing the kidnapping of an ageing hotel heiress in the French city of Nice four years ago. Giuseppe Serena was among 13 people on trial over the plot against his former boss Jacqueline Veyrac, owner of the five-star Grand Hotel in Cannes and the ritzy Mediterranean seafront restaurant La Reserve in Nice. clr-mdm/san/js/cb/gd