Rapist sentenced to four years

(ANSA) - Lodi, July 23 - A court on Thursday sentenced a 42-year-old construction worker to four years two months behind bars for raping a 22-year-old student from the northern city of Lodi in 2014.
    The Ecuador native and father of two, a resident of the northern city of Piacenza, was found guilty in a fast-track trial of raping the victim, who worked occasionally as a bartender, after convincing her to let him give her a ride home on a rainy day in November last year.
    Instead, he drove her in his van to an isolated country road and attacked her.
    He was arrested last year while about to flee to Spain, and has been incarcerated ever since.
    The court also sentenced the perpetrator to pay the victim damages of 15,000 euros.
    Fast-track trials in Italy take a lot less time than regular trials, and the rulings cannot be appealed although sentences are shorter.