The son of a top Italian film director who ran over and killed two 16-year-old Roman girls in the centre of the Italian capital in December 2019 on Thursday plea-bargained five years and four months in jail on appeal, down from a first-instance conviction of eight years.
Paolo Genovese's son Pietro, 21, has said he is "shocked and devastated at what happened", saying he had only set off along Corso Francia after the light had turned green.
Pietro Genovese was again found guilty of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Gaia Von Freymann and Camilla Romagnoli.
The girls are thought to have tried to cross the very busy road near the upscale Parioli district despite the pedestrian-crossing light being red.
The young man reportedly tested positive for alcohol, but early reports that he also tested positive for drugs were said to be unfounded.
A prosecutor said he was driving too fast, at about 80 km an hour.
But the girls were also said to have been "rash" in trying to cross the busy road.
The case shocked Italy.
Autopsy results showed Genovese's car caved in the girls' skulls, killing them instantly.
Other fractures were found, but no sign of their being hit or dragged by other vehicles, contradicting eye witness reports.
Rome-born director and screenwriter Paolo Genovese, 54, got an economic degree from Rome university before starting his career at McCann Erickson, directing over one hundred commercials and winning several awards.
In 1998 he started collaborating with Luca Miniero co-writing and co-directing the short film La scoperta di Walter; the duo made their feature film debut in 2002, with the critical acclaimed comedy film A Neapolitan Spell.
Genovese made his solo-directing debut in 2010 with the La banda dei Babbi Natale (The Father Christmas Gang).
In 2016, his film Perfect Strangers won the Best Screenplay in an International Narrative Feature Film Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was awarded best film at the David di Donatello Awards, Italy's Oscars.
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