Too excited for his own good

Silvio Berlusconi's personal physician, Professor Alberto Zangrillo, told a Milan court on Friday that he had advised the ex-premier to avoid excessive "commotion" and "excitement" during alleged sex parties at his villa at Arcore, near Milan. Zangrillo denied ever seeing "moments of a sexual nature" at the parties, or "girls dressed in scanty clothes" on the couple of occasions when he had been to the dance hall at Arcore.

"I was only concerned about the commotion and the excitement, prescribed greater care for Berlusconi and told him not to spend too much time in such situations," he told the court. Berlusconi is on trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute called Ruby after several of the alleged parties and coercing police into releasing her after an unrelated theft claim to hush up the fact.

The ex-premier and Ruby have both denied the accusations. The doctor also told the court that he had only seen "bodies moving in time to the music, dancing and nothing striking".

Prosecutors believe Berlusconi had sex with 33 prostitutes at his villa in Arcore over the course of several months.

The prostitutes were allegedly supplied by bankrupt ex-talent scout Lele Mora, Lombardy regional councillor and Berlusconi's former dental hygienist Nicole Minetti, and retired television anchor Emilio Fede.

The three are now facing charges of inducing and favouring prostitution, including underage prostitution, in a separate trial.

Source: ANSA