Maria Franca Lupino, former director of the "Noli me tollere" residential community in Sorso, was sentenced to one and four months for manslaughter today in court in Sassari.

The woman was charged with the death of Rosalba Scognamillo, 82, who died in June 2020 following a fall in the very facility where she had been staying for a few days. The judge also ordered damages to be awarded to the plaintiff, represented by attorney Marco Manca, to be settled in a separate proceeding with an immediately enforceable provisional sum of €15,000.

Prosecutor Erica Angioni had requested a five-year prison sentence, holding the defendant responsible for several aspects of the elderly woman's disappearance. She believed the residential facility could not accommodate non-self-sufficient people like Scognamillo, who suffered from dementia and pathologies that impaired her ability to maintain her physical balance.

Despite this, he failed to take the necessary measures to protect her, according to the magistrate. Gianmario Fois, the defense attorney, argued that the responsibility for the incident lay, in his opinion, with the woman's GP, because he allegedly failed to show up at the home, only appearing after his patient was already dead.

"Lupino took the woman into the residential community to help her," he concluded. "There was no room anywhere, especially in the RSA, since Scognamillo couldn't financially afford a suitable facility."