A man spent almost a year and a half between prison and house arrest for a crime his doppelgänger brother allegedly committed.
Ivan Petrelli was arrested in October 2018 on suspicion of kidnap for ransom and assault with aggravating factors.
This was after he was identified as a suspect by one of the victims.
He and five others were accused of taking revenge on two people suspected of stealing from the house of the dad of one of the group.
The pair were forcibly taken to a secluded field near Carmiano, Italy, where they were showered with kicks and punches.
The two pals were then ordered to hand over €8,000 (£6,800) to “compensate” for the alleged theft.
When Ivan, 45, was first questioned by the police, he exercised his right to remain silent.
But he later decided to plead innocent.
His sat nav and mobile phone data corroborated his claim that he was elsewhere with others on the day of the assault in September 2018.
But judges in nearby Lecce ruled him unreliable.
His dead-ringer brother Mimmo came clean to the police about how the events unfolded.
So did Ivan’s co-suspects and even the wife of one of the victims, who was present when the pair were snatched.
This led to Ivan’s release on bail in January 2020.
But a month later, judges sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
The sentence was overturned on appeal.
By the time Ivan was found innocent, he’d spent almost a year-and-a-half between remand and house arrest.
He has now returned to court in Lecce, but this time to ask for €300,000 (£256,000) in compensation for his ordeal, which also affected his family.
The case is ongoing.
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