That attack was not a simple episode of domestic violence, but a full-blown attempted murder. This was determined by the Sassari Court of Appeal, overturning the first-instance conviction against Antonio Melis, 37, a resident of Oliena, accused of attacking his father, Pasquale Melis, a 67-year-old retired Carabiniere, during a violent family dispute in Torpè.
The second-instance judges recognized the full intent to kill and sentenced the man to eight years of imprisonment , accepting the appeal advanced by the public prosecutor Riccardo Belfiori, who in the first instance had asked for a sentence of ten years, with the recognition of the aggravating circumstance of the family relationship.
The incident occurred on the night of February 1st and 2nd of last year in Torpè. According to the reconstruction, Antonio Melis first held a knife to his father's throat, threatening him, and then repeatedly struck him on the head with a chair before fleeing. The man was rescued and rushed to San Francesco Hospital in Nuoro, where he was diagnosed with serious injuries. A forensic examination revealed the seriousness of the injuries, which were deemed potentially lethal.
In the first instance, Nuoro Court's preliminary hearing judge, Mauro Pusceddu, upgraded the charge from attempted murder to serious injury, sentencing Melis to four years in prison in the summary trial. The prosecutor's office appealed this decision.
Now, with the appeal ruling, justice recognizes the gravity of an act that, according to the judges, cannot be reduced to an argument gone wrong, but rather falls squarely within the scope of the attempted murder of a parent.