Egg-throwing attackers identified

ROME - The three men who attacked Daisy Osakue last week, an Italian record-holder for under 23 discus throwing, have been identified as 19-year-old Italians coming from Vinovo, La Loggia and Moncalieri, police said on Friday.

 The 22-year-old athlete was attacked on the night of July 29 returning to her house in Moncalieri where she was hit in the eye by an egg thrown from a moving car. Police in Turin on Friday morning managed to name the three young men that carried out the attack whilst in a Fiat Doblò insured by one of their fathers. One was the son of Roberto De Pascali, ex-mayor candidate and Vinovo’s representative for Italy’s democratic party Pd. Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini quickly spread the news on social media, writing on twitter that “this incident was carried out by idiots who were driven by stupidity, not racism. And one of the throwers is the son of a democratic party representative!”

 The boys explained to the police that they had acted “just for fun”. They have all been charged with inflicting injury and not carrying out their ‘duty to rescue’, in which they failed to assist someone in danger. The investigation, coordinated by the judge in Turin has had success thanks to Daisy’s detailed recount, in which she described the model and colour of the car from which the egg was thrown. The same car was used in similar attacks carried out days earlier in the streets of Genova. The previous victim - also a woman - was more fortunate; the three boys missed her. Other passers-by in the last few days have also been aimed at by the egg-launching group.

 Having given the testimonies, footage of all the shops on the streets where the attacks took place were gathered, enabling the incriminating car to be spotted and the registration plate to be identified.

 On Thursday morning police went to Vinovo to the house of representative De Pascali. The famous Fiat Doblò was parked there, whilst on the right-hand side of the body there was still evidence of egg residue. “The car is often used by my son, usually in the evening,” the representative explained. The son confirmed the situation, admitting to having thrown the eggs – at least seven in the space of two months – and naming the other two complicit in the crimes.

 Daisy Osakue, the last victim of the nineteen-year-olds night-time pastimes, reported an injury to her left eye and now is at risk of missing the European championships in Berlin.

 cb