Pulling son’s hair in row was ‘abuse’

An ITALIAN politician, who grabbed his 12-year-old son by the hair in a public row while on holiday in Sweden, has been found guilty of child abuse.

Giovanni Colasante, 46, an official from the small southern Italian town of Canosa di Puglia, was accused of “intentionally inflicting pain on his son by pulling him by the hair” for about five seconds during an argument on 23 August in Stockholm’s Old Town.

Colasante, who denied the charges at Stockholm District Court, was arrested after witnesses approached Colasante then called the police.

He spent three nights in jail before returning to Italy and was not present in court for the verdict.

The case has generated front-page headlines in Italy, where it is being called a parenting “culture clash” between northern and southern Europe.

Colasante’s lawyer, Lars Runeberg, said his client was stunned by how the case was handled by Swedish authorities.

“What has shocked him the most is the way he was deprived of his freedom,” Mr Runeberg said.

In Sweden there is zero tolerance for parents who hit their children, and anyone who does so in public is often confronted by bystanders and reported to police.

Sweden was the first country in the world to outlaw corporal punishment in 1979, according to its Ombudsman for Children.

Noting that the boy had not received any lasting physical injuries, the court said the abuse was regarded as a misdemeanor and waived a fine of 6,600 kronor (£625), saying Colasante’s time in jail was sufficient punishment.

But judging by testimony from several witnesses “it is clear that Giovanni Colasante’s violence was severe enough to cause the boy pain,” the court noted.