16 years’ jail for Concordia disaster won’t be served for a long time
The captain of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia may remain a free man - for now - despite being found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Francesco Schettino, who was at the helm of the vessel in 2012 when it hit rocks off the Tuscan coast and sank, killing 32 people, will remain free if he appeals against the verdict.
Schettino, who has not spent any time in custody apart from a few months under house arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento, Naples, was freed pending appeal.
A panel of three judges sentenced Schettino to 10 years' jail for multiple manslaughter, five years for causing a shipwreck and one year for abandoning the ship ahead of his passengers.
The ship, with more than 4000 passengers and crew aboard, partially capsized on the night of January 13, 2012, close to the island of Giglio, after a risky manoeuvre which tore a huge hole in its side.
Prosecutors had demanded a 26-year sentence, calling its captain a "reckless idiot" who steered the 290m vessel "like a canoe".
But most lawyers in court considered the 16-year penalty severe - and many said it was heavier than they expected.
Schettino is almost certain to appeal and under Italian law he has the right to challenge the verdict twice, which could mean he stays free for years. Judges did not rule him a flight risk or place him under house arrest.
On the charge of manslaughter, the case turned on Schettino's decision to delay the order of evacuation for more than an hour. Senior coastguard officials have said this delay was to blame for most of the fatalities.
A harrowing dossier prepared by prosecutors described how terrified passengers, finding no space on life rafts, fell into the sea. Others slipped and became trapped inside the flooded vessel as it tilted at an alarming angle.
Schettino sought to defend himself from the charge of abandoning ship early by claiming he'd "slipped in a lifeboat and couldn't get out".
A telephone conversation between the captain and the coastguard commander Gregorio De Falco, who ordered Schettino to "get back on board, for f***'s sake", became a national talking point.
Earlier in the day, Schettino, who denied the charges, broke down after pleading for leniency.
He has had some support from the national consumer group Codacons, which is leading a class action against Concordia's owner, Costa Cruises.
Giuliano Leuzzi, Codacons' chief lawyer, said: "Schettino should be punished but he has been made a scapegoat. There should have been others on trial with him."
Schettino and the company were jointly ordered to pay 30,000 ($46,250) compensation to each of the passengers.
Italian government ministries, the region of Tuscany and the island of Giglio will also be paid millions of euros in compensation for environmental damage.
Four crew members, including the vessel's second-in-command Ciro Ambrosio, have had plea bargains accepted, as has Roberto Ferrarini, the crisis co-ordinator of Costa Cruises. None is currently serving jail time.
Leuzzi said it was "unacceptable and unbelievable" that the court was not taking into account "serious malfunctions of the ship".
Reports prepared for the court highlighted faulty water-tight compartment doors, blocked lifts and the failure of emergency power supplies, as factors that may have added to the death toll.
