He lost half a finger in a mistakenly fired shot: a soldier from Sassari acquitted

Sergeant from Sassari acquitted by the Military Tribunal of Rome. The sentence, pronounced today, refers to two crimes of which the forty-five-year-old was accused: aggravated violation of delivery and aggravated negligent destruction of military ammunition.

Charges born from an episode dating back to two years ago and to be contextualized during an exercise carried out in the Capo Teulada Polygon. Where the soldier, in charge of the armed sentry service, finds himself, on the orders of his superior, also engaging in the exercise. Once concluded, the sergeant puts away the weapon and lends his belt to a fellow soldier because his was defective. Having got it back, while he is extracting the gun from the holster a shot goes off that cuts off part of his finger.

The explosion of the bullet and the transfer of the buffeting element substantiate the charges. The most serious, potentially, is the aggravated violation of delivery but as Francesca Fazio, the defendant's defense attorney, illustrated, the interruption of the initial deliveries and the absence of clear orders would already in themselves demonstrate the groundlessness of the accusation.

Furthermore, the lawyer stressed, the law basically provides that, in these cases, the escort cannot also lend itself to training. And the loan of the belt, considering the short time of employment, together with the fact that the forty-five year old has received several commendations for his ability to collaborate, does not constitute conduct against the duty of service but, on the contrary, devoid of the psychological element of wanting to commit a violation, goes instead in the opposite direction, that is, of an altruistic nature.

The other aspect expressed in the Courtroom by the lawyer is that the Sassari sergeant, after the accident, was recognized by the Defense administration as having a service-related cause, which presupposes at least co-responsibility for what happened. The damage on the destruction of the ammunition can be quantified in a few dozen cents and the defendant had already requested that they be deducted from his salary. In the end, the Court accepted the defense's reasons, acquitting the Sassari sergeant from the violation of delivery because the fact does not exist and from the other charge due to the particular triviality of the fact.