In a dramatic and tragic turn of events, a well-known socialite has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the fatal outcome of a pursuit to reclaim her stolen handbag. The incident, which unfolded in September 2024, involved Italian businesswoman Cinzia Dal Pino, 65, and was captured by street CCTV cameras in the picturesque town of Viareggio, Tuscany.
The footage reveals a scene of escalating violence where Dal Pino, behind the wheel of her white Mercedes GLE, aggressively targeted Noureddine ‘Said’ Mezgui, a 52-year-old man from Morocco. The video shows Dal Pino veering off the road in her luxury SUV, valued at £80,000, and deliberately striking Mezgui multiple times.
After initially hitting Mezgui, Dal Pino reversed her vehicle only to drive forward again, mercilessly crushing him beneath the weight of her two-and-a-half-tonne car. As Mezgui lay on the ground, visibly in pain, Dal Pino shocked onlookers by reversing and running him over twice more until he ceased moving.
Emerging from her vehicle clad in stiletto heels, Dal Pino retrieved her handbag from the scene and then drove away, leaving a grim aftermath. The repercussions of her actions have been severe, leading to a lengthy sentence that underscores the gravity of this tragic incident.
But as the Moroccan national writhed in agony, Dal Pino reversed and ran over him twice more until he stopped moving.
She stepped out of the luxury vehicle in her stiletto heels before she took back her bag, then continued to drive off.
Mr Mezgui was later declared dead at the scene after passersby called paramedics.
Dal Pino was on trial for aggravated voluntary homicide and the judge ruled she will be able to serve her term under house arrest after prosecutors argued she sought ‘excessive’ revenge.
Italian businesswoman Cinzia Dal Pino, 67, has been sentenced for 18 years after killing a man who stole her bag
She was caught on CCTV ramming the victim with her white Mercedes GLE in Viareggio, Tuscany
Dal Pino told police earlier that Mezgui had mugged her as she came out of a restaurant after a dinner date.
Her lawyer Enrico Marzaduri said: ‘She didn’t want to kill, but to stop the man and get her bag back.
‘Inside it were her documents and house keys, and she was fearful he would have committed other crimes.’
But despite this fear, rather than calling police or paramedics Dal Pino calmly returned to the restaurant where she had been dining with friends before the attack to bring back an umbrella she had borrowed, local media reported.
Dal Pino admitted to police she had chased after him and had only wanted to get her bag back.
She told police: ‘He had threatened to kill me with a knife. I was scared. I didn’t mean to kill him I just wanted my belongings back.
‘There were important documents in my bag and I couldn’t call the police because my phone was in there.’
Officers later revealed no knife had been found on Mezgui and Dal Pino was initially held in jail on suspicion of manslaughter before being freed under house arrest.
Nourdine Mezgui, 52, was killed after he stole Dal Pino’s bag
Mr Mezgui’s family in Morocco previously spoke of their horror at the incident and called for ‘justice’
Her lawyer Enrico Marzaduri dismissed the video and said last year: ‘I understand from the autopsy that it was certainly the initial impact that proved fatal and there are no tyre marks on the body.
‘She just wanted to stop him and was aiming for his legs. She is suffering for what she did and is feeling remorse for what happened.’
Dal Pino, a well known socialite in the Italian coastal city, was identified through her SUV’s number plate and arrested by police just hours after the incident.
The high-flying socialite, who was under house arrest before her trial, was also accused of cruelty, deceitful methods and killing her victim while he was unable to defend himself.
Mr Marzaduri’s motion to downgrade the charge to self-defence or manslaughter was rejected by the court. The woman was granted mitigating circumstances and the aggravating circumstance of cruelty was dropped.
Police had been monitoring Mr Mezgui in the lead up to his death and had wanted to repatriate him, but authorities had not responded to their requests, meaning he had remained at large in Viareggio.
Mr Mezgui’s family in Morocco previously spoke of their horror following the incident and criticised Italian authorities for placing Dal Pino under house arrest while she awaited trial rather than in jail.
‘Not even an animal is killed in this way,’ his sisters told Moroccan channel Chouf TV, adding: ‘We ask for justice for our brother, Cinzia Dal Pino must remain in prison.’
Dal Pino’s lawyers argued she did not intend to kill and had only wanted to get her bag back
Mezgui’s family said of the 52-year-old, who had lived in Italy for 24 years: ‘He was a good man and we want justice. Everyone who knows him will tell you that.
‘She ran over him four times and then just calmly drove off when he was dying and didn’t even ask for help.’
Local archbishop monsignor Paolo Giulietti said just after the mugger’s death: ‘Other than self-defence, the video shows astonishing behaviour.
‘How do you drive your car over a person’s body several times? How could we think that a quiet and esteemed lady, a capable entrepreneur, could carry out such an action?
‘Evil wins when it makes us evil: those who rejoice because this episode would be an episode of self-defence demonstrate how evil wins.
‘I say, let’s not rejoice, this is not self-defence, and it is not justice. Nothing, absolutely nothing can justify murder.
‘Not just because we live in a state of law. But because every person, in every situation they find themselves in, has the right to live.’
Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini took a different view and wrote on Facebook: ‘This drama is the consequence of a crime. If the man who lost his life hadn’t been a delinquent this wouldn’t have happened.’
