Italian court rules COVID-19 stress as mitigating circumstance in murder
A man has had his life sentence for killing his girlfriend overturned due to stress during COVID-19.
The decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation took into account the mitigating circumstances related to the pandemic.
A man from the province of Messina strangled his girlfriend during an argument over suspicions of coronavirus infection, Ansa reports.
The girl complained of a sore throat, which forced the man to leave her and go to his parents.
She asked him to stay, but a quarrel ensued that led to tragedy.
The man attempted to commit suicide but later surrendered to the police.
In its explanation of the decision, the Supreme Court stressed that the judges had not previously linked the specific nature of the situation to the coronavirus period.
As a result, the Supreme Court decided to send the verdict back for review.
