Two brothers got life and 28 years in
prison in prison Friday for kicking to death a 21-year-old
Cape-Verdian-Italian chef near Rome in September 2020.
Marco Bianchi saw his life term upheld on appeal while Gabriele
had his cut from life to 28 years after attenuating
circumstances were recognised.
Twenty-something mixed martial art experts Marco and Gabriele
Bianchi were found guilty of the savage beating of Willy
Monteiro Duarte at Colleferro after he intervened to try to stop
a fight.
"The sentences will not give us Willy back. I hope that these
boys appreciate the fact that they are alive with a family that
can see them and hear their voice. All we have left of Willy is
a photograph and his voice is just a distant memory, said
Duarte's mother Lucia.
"I hope that the Bianchi brothers learn to respect others and to
ensure that another family does not experience what we
experienced", she added.
Duarte, who became a symbol of the youth street violence
sweeping Italy, was beaten to death on September 6, 2020 after
stepping in to defend a friend.
In October 2020 President Sergio Mattarella awarded one of
Italy's top honours, the gold medal, posthumously to Duarte and
another person also recently killed while trying to help others,
51-year-old priest Father Roberto Malgesini.
Malgesini, who worked to help the poor and marginalised, was
stabbed to death in central Como by a homeless migrant with
mental-health problems.
Duarte's brutal murder sparked calls for police to crack down on
youth street violence, after a spate of other episodes.
Among the responses was the 'Willy DASPO ban', which carries
penalties of stiff fines and jail terms between six months and
two years.
Youth street fights are becoming more common in Italy.
The Italian media has increasingly focused on street gangs
linked to rappers, some of them second-generation North African
immigrants.
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