(ANSA) - Italy's highest appeals court has fired a warning shot in the direction of Italian car owners who regularly double-park, making it impossible for the hemmed-in vehicles to drive away.
The Court of Cassation sentenced a 40-year-old Rome man to 15 days in prison for leaving his car alongside a row of parked vehicles and then refusing to move it when asked to by a trapped driver.
The man, identified as Luigi C., was also ordered to pay a fine and 500 euros in court costs.
Judges said the man had committed an act of "violence", firstly by double-parking and then by arrogantly obliging the protesting motorist to stay put. Finding their cars blocked in by double-parked vehicles is part of life for Italian city-dwellers and they are often seen sitting at the wheel honking desperately in the hope that they will soon be 'released'.
"The problem of double-parking is no longer a minor one that can be sorted out with a fine," commented Rome traffic police chief Aldo Zanetti. "I think the judges wanted to send out a strong signal."
The ruling hinged on a little-used article in the Italian penal code which states that "anyone who with threats or violence obliges others to do or tolerate something can be sentenced to up to four years in jail." Luigi C. will not actually go to jail because his
sentence was suspended. However the ruling marked the heftiest punishment ever in Italy for double-parking.