Irish-based IT worker acquitted of killing wife on cruise ship during family holiday off coast of Italy eight years ago
The Irish-based IT worker was recently sentenced to 26 years in prison in Italy after being convicted of
A
Belling, who has always protested his innocence, was sentenced in his absence last year for slaying Irish resident Xing Lei Li, 38, on a cruise ship and the 'destruction' of her body.
The dad - who has been living in Coolock, north
And last night it emerged the Court of Assizes of Appeal of Rome had overturned the sentence 'because the fact does not exist'.
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Tragic wife Xing-Li vanished two days after she boarded the MSC Magnifica at the
Cops launched a probe into whether her remains were thrown overboard by Belling.
He denied murdering her and spent 14 months in an Italian jail before he was released and returned to Ireland in 2018.
The Court of Assizes in Rome had accused the husband of throwing his wife's body in the sea after locking it in a trolley.
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A trial was held in his absence, with Belling convicted by an Italian court of murdering Xing-Li on a cruise ship.
The indictment accused the husband of 'causing the death of his wife, who was travelling with him and two young children and in order to achieve impunity for the crime just committed, he disposed of the corpse, hiding it or otherwise causing its destruction'.
Gardai roll out new tool in crackdown on e-scooters
Prosecutors had requested a 24-year sentence for Belling, who is originally from
But the court in Rome handed down a 26 year jail term.
Belling, who has always denied involvement in the matter, had pledged an appeal, with his sentence now dramatically overturned.
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Belling has always denied involvement
Credit: Italian broadcaster Chi L'Ha Visto
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