Judges revoke ex gangster Vallanzasca's day release regime

Former Milanese underworld kingpin faces shoplifting charge

(ANSA) Milan, July 14 - A local court revoked Monday the open prison regime enjoyed by former Milanese underworld boss Renato Vallanzasca after he was arrested for allegedly shop-lifting in a supermarket. One of Italy's most notorious gangsters, Vallanzasca was allowed to leave prison on day release last year to work in a leather workshop despite serving four life prison terms consecutively for racketeering and murder.

On June 13 Vallanzasca was arrested on charges of stealing two pairs of boxer undershorts and other items from a supermarket. Vallanzasca said he was "stitched up" by authorities because he soon would have become eligible for release for good behaviour. A lawyer for the former bandit, Debora Piazza, criticised the decision by Milan's panel of surveillance court judges to take away his privileges, saying "this decision doesn't fit well with the presumption of innocence".

The 63-year-old Vallanzasca, once romanticised for his prison breaks and life on the run and nicknamed 'Il Bel Rene' (Handsome Rene'), became a rebel figure for some in the politically turbulent 1970s.

A film accused of glamorising him sparked debate at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, with director Michele Placido criticised for a sympathetic portrait of a ruthless criminal who committed seven murders, three kidnappings and scores of armed robberies. Placido was slammed for, among other things, casting heartthrob actor Kim Rossi Stuart in the lead role, making Vallanzasca seem a charming, seductive figure and failing to consult victims' families during production.

The row escalated when Placido replied that Vallanzasca had an "ethic to his evil", that if he appeared seductive in the film it was because the work was true to life and that "there are people in parliament who have done worse". Vallanzasca was first sent to jail in 1972 but he escaped several times and spent long spells out as a fugitive. He orchestrated many prison riots during his time inside but most recently appeared to have mellowed.