A court in the French city of Lyon has ruled US pesticides maker Monsanto was responsible for the poisoning of a farmer who had used one of their products on his crops. Paul Francois says he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto’s Lasso weedkiller in 2004.

His lawyer, Stephane Teyssier, described the ruling as “historic”. “The tribunal has ordered an expert opinion, so we will see what comes of that in relation to compensation.”

Monsanto’s lawyer, Jean Philippe Delsart, said the company was considering an appeal: “For Monsanto, there was no evidence of a causal link between the symptoms presented by Mr. Francois and the inhalation of a weedkiller”.

The farmer claimed Monsanto was at fault for not providing adequate warnings on the product label.

The ruling could have implications for similar cases.