ROME – Roberto Spada, a clan member who head-butted a journalist in the seaside town of Ostia, received a six-year jail term for his brutal attack in November, officials said. Ruben Nelson Alvez del Puerto, Spada’s Uruguayan bodyguard, was dealt the same verdict for participation in the assault on two crew members of the State broadcaster RAI.

 The Rome court ruled that the pair, accused of private violence, had also used mafia methods in the beating of RAI reporter Daniele Piervincenzi and cameraman Edoardo Anselmi on Nov 7.

 Quizzed on his family’s alleged link to the Italian hard-right party CasaPound, Spada, a former boxer, lashed out at Piervincenzi, breaking his nose, whilst Anselmi suffered bruising on his back after being struck with a club.

 Spada had reportedly wanted “to show that he is not afraid of a camera,” but the situation turned sour once pressed on his support of the fascist party.

 Anselmi was, however, able to record footage of the vicious assault, described by Rome prosecutor, Giovanni Musarò, as a “blatant and ostentatious, lucidly planned attack,” which proved crucial in Monday’s conviction. With several witnesses in the area, “he tried to rebalance the prestige of the clan with the violent methods he knows best,” Musarò added.

 Prosecutors had requested an eight year and nine-month sentence for Spada, although the final verdict was reduced to six years.

 Spada, who was arrested two days after the attack, is being held in the high security section of Tolmezzo prison, Udine, whilst Del Puerto has been detained in Nuoro.

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