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Actor from mafia film Piranhas stabbed in Naples

A teenage actor who appeared in the award-winning film "Piranhas", about child criminals in Naples, has been stabbed in the Italian organised crime stronghold.

Published: 29 April 2019 10:53 CEST

Actor from mafia film Piranhas stabbed in Naples

Actor Artem Tkachuk (L) poses with a younger cast member on the red carpet at the screening for the film "Piranhas" (La Paranza dei Bambini) at the 69th Berlinale film festival in Berlin. Photo: AFP

Ukranian 18-year old Artem Tkachuk played one of the gun-wielding, drug-peddling teens in the film, based on a novel by renowned investigative journalist and mafia expert Roberto Saviano.

Tkachuk was attacked by a so-called “baby gang” in the early hours after a night out last week with a friend, local media reported on Monday.

The actor was stabbed twice while his friend was beaten. Neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

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Police believe the youngster may have been set upon because of his role in the film, which won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 69th Berlin film festival in February and is coming to European cinemas this summer.

Italy's right-wing League party is backing a bill which would lower the age of criminal responsibility in the country from 14 to 12, which the party says would tackle the phenomenon of young people joining gangs at an ever-lower age,

According to the National Observatory on Childhood and Adolescence, 6.5 percent of youngsters in Naples — home to the feared Camorra crime group – belong to gangs.

Anti-mafia author Saviano has lived under armed guard since publishing his international bestseller “Gomorrah” in 2006.

Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano. Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP

REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings.

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents.

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023.

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital.

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively.

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019.

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”.

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