20-yr term request for men who shot, paralysed swimmer

(ANSA) - Rome, September 23 - Prosecutors on Monday asked a Rome court to sentence two men accused of shooting and paralysing promising Veneto swimmer Manuel Bortuzzo in February to 20 years in prison. Lorenzo Marinelli and Daniel Bazzano are accused of the attempted homicide of Bortuzzo and his girlfriend Martina Rossi in relation to the shooting outside a Rome nightclub on the night between February 2 and 3. The two men have confessed to shooting Bortuzzo, who is paralysed from the waist down.
    The said they shot him by mistake, having confused him with someone they had had a scuffle with.
    A lawyer representing Bortuzzo, who is a civil plaintiff in the trial, said his client should be awarded 10 million euros in damages.
    "Manuel has already had a tough sentence," said the lawyer, Massimo Ciardullo.
    "The medical consultant said that his legs are paralysed.
    "Now we await a just sentence from the judge".