Naples — A conviction and acquittal that leave a deep sense of injustice among Luca Piscopo's family and friends. The fifteen-year-old died on December 2, 2021, after nine days of agony caused by severe food poisoning contracted at an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Vomero, Naples.
Four years after the tragedy, Judge Giuliana Taglialatela sentenced the owner of the restaurant, a Chinese restaurateur, to two years and six months in prison. He was also found guilty of violations of hygiene and food preservation. The doctor who treated the boy, however, was acquitted. The Naples Prosecutor's Office charged him, along with the restaurateur, with manslaughter.
The public prosecutor, Federica Amodio, had requested a three-year prison sentence for the restaurateur and a year and eight months for the doctor, arguing that Luca's death—due to myocarditis aggravated by salmonellosis—could be linked both to the consumption of contaminated sushi and to alleged negligence in clinical management.
According to the prosecution, prompt medical intervention could have saved the boy's life, a circumstance, however, not recognized in the sentence. The doctor had limited himself to treating the symptoms, failing to prevent the tragic outcome: on the morning of December 2nd, Luca was found lifeless in his room.
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Present in the courtroom on the same day as the sentencing were the young victim's parents and all the friends who had shared that fatal meal with him.
His mother, Maria Rosaria Borrelli, expressed her anger: "The restaurateur was unscrupulous, but what hurt me most was the doctor's acquittal. In ten days, my son lost over ten kilos, and the doctor never even called me to check on him."
Luca's friend Imma Varriale echoed this sentiment: "We waited four years for justice to be served, but it wasn't. Two years and six months is a paltry sentence, and the doctor was acquitted. This is yet another example of the failure of the Italian justice system. We expected the maximum sentence; we're all shocked."
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