A court in Piacenza has sentenced a 27-year-old Moroccan national to eight years and six months in prison for a violent attack on his 37-year-old partner. The assault, which occurred on October 5, 2024, left the woman with fractures to her skull and nose after she was repeatedly struck with an iron bar.
Judge Matilde Borgia convicted the man of domestic abuse and aggravated attempted murder with premeditation, as reported by the newspaper ‘Libertà’. The court also ordered the assailant to pay €25,000 in compensation to the victim and €5,000 to each of her two young children, aged five and seven.
The couple resided in Castelsangiovanni. According to the Piacenza Prosecutor’s Office, the man had a history of perpetrating violence against his partner, including insults, slaps, punches, and a head-butt to the face that had previously forced her to flee their home. In the days leading up to the attack, the 27-year-old had begged her to return, eventually threatening suicide on October 5th. Lured back under false pretenses, she was ambushed. “As soon as she arrived, he confronted her in the courtyard with an aggressive tone, then retrieved an iron bar from his car trunk and struck her multiple times in the abdomen and head,” stated the indictment, as cited by ‘Libertà’.
The victim collapsed with her injuries. The intervention of a neighbor, who called emergency services, prevented a more severe outcome. She was transported to Piacenza hospital and required two months to recover. The attacker fled upon the arrival of Carabinieri officers but was later apprehended hiding in a parking lot, still holding the iron bar used in the assault.
The trial was held Friday under a special fast-track procedure. The defense’s requests for a psychiatric evaluation for the defendant and a reduction of the charges to aggravated assault were both rejected by the court. A court-appointed medical expert confirmed that the injuries were capable of causing death, given the violence of the blows and the use of the iron bar.