British man, 31, accused of killing ex-mayor in crash on skiing holiday
A British man is on trial in Italy accused of killing a former mayor by crashing into him at ‘high speed’ while skiing.
Rhys Phillips, 31, is charged with the manslaughter of Rizieri Ongaro, 77, who died in Allenge, in the Italian Dolomites, in March 2022.
Prosecutors say he was fatally injured when Phillips ‘carelessly skied into him at high speed’ while on holiday there.
One witness told the court in nearby Belluno: ‘’It was all very quick and the man who was hit didn’t even have time to move out of the way, he was hit violently and knocked off his feet.’
The trial heard Mr Ongaro was an expert skier and president of the local ski club who previously served as mayor of a village close by.
He died just three days before what would have been his 78th birthday.
The court was told Phillips and his Danish girlfriend were quickly identified by police, MailOnline reports.
Phillips, originally from Aldershot but living in Copenhagen, is a keen skier and travel blogger.
He was said to have told officers he ‘hadn’t seen’ the older man who ‘just appeared’ in front of him.
During the hearing, lawyers Antonio Prade and Massimo Montino, for Mr Ongaro’s family, showed photos from Phillips’s social media, saying they showed him skiing in a ‘dangerous manner’ with ‘no concern for the safety of others’.
Mr Prade told the court: ‘You can see the accused’s propensity to take unnecessary risks from the pictures and videos on his ski trip that he posted on social media.’
Philipps’s lawyers Ernesto Caracciolo and Aldo Bissi told the Mail he denied any wrongdoing and insisted the incident was a tragic accident.
They said ‘several witnesses’ could confirm his account of events.
Even if he is eventually convicted, it is unlikely he will go to jail as he has a clean record and was not under the influence of drink or drugs at the time.
The trial will resume later this year.
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