Pamela Genini murder: Gianluca Soncin makes statements in the courtroom

"I know that forgiveness cannot be expected. I understand the weight of my actions and the memory of Pamela will remain indelible in our hearts." It is a passage from the statements made today in the courtroom in Milan by Gianluca Soncin, the 52-year-old in prison for killing his girlfriend, Pamela Genini.

The accused, in apologizing to the family of the young woman he stabbed, added: "I just have to fully assume the consequences for the pain I have caused with a sense of responsibility".

Soncin, in the dock, next to his lawyers, asked to be able to make spontaneous statements this morning even before the witnesses were heard.

"In this moment of great pain and profound sadness I offer my apologies to Pamela's family. Since that day our lives have changed profoundly. I know that forgiveness cannot be expected. I understand the weight of my actions and Pamela's memory will remain indelible in our hearts. I just have to fully assume the consequences for the pain I have caused with a sense of responsibility."

Soncin, on the evening of 14 October last year, after having obtained a duplicate of the young girl's house keys, 'broke into' her apartment in Via Iglesias, on the outskirts of Milan and, while Pamela was on the phone with her ex, he hit her with 76 blows, first on the terrace of the house and then in the house. For him the charge is multi-aggravated murder.