(ANSA) - Lodi, May 26 - A woman who smuggled a knife into a courtroom at Lodi near Milan Tuesday told police she had come to kill prosecutor Alessia Menegazzo, the magistrate told reporters.
The would-be assailant, who was restrained before she could extract the knife from her bag, was named as Rosa Maria Capasso, a 38-year-old "school worker" from Naples.
The woman physically attacked the prosecutor after entering his office on the pretext of speaking about a complaint.
Authorities found a 12-inch kitchen knife in her purse, which she reportedly did not brandish during the attack.
The knife got past security because the metal detector was not working, with repairs held up by a lack of central funding, staff unions said.