Getting dressed in the morning is part of the working day, Italian court rules after policeman caught clocking on in his underwear WINS legal battle
- Alberto Muraglia pictured stamping his time card in just Y-fronts and a T-shirt
- Italian police officer was caught on CCTV clocking in then going to get dressed
- He was sacked in a probe and charged with defrauding the state of public funds
- Court ruled it was OK for government employees to clock in then put uniform on
Time spent getting dressed in the morning is part of the working day, an Italian court has ruled after a police officer was caught clocking on in his underwear.
Alberto Muraglia was pictured stamping his time card in just Y-fronts and a T-shirt in the northern seaside town of Sanremo, not far from the French border.
The 58-year-old officer was captured on CCTV in 2014 punching the card in his council accommodation block where he lived with his family near his place of work.
After clocking on, he then went back upstairs to his apartment to get dressed into his uniform before heading back to the office for his shift.
As a result of the clip captured on police security cameras, Muraglia was charged with defrauding the state of public funds.
The court heard Muraglia sometimes sent his daughter down to punch in his time card in the mornings, according to local media.
Alberto Muraglia was pictured stamping his time card in his council accommodation block where he lived with his family near his place of work
Alberto Muraglia was acquitted of defrauding the state of public funds by an Italian court
In the footage a young girl could also be seen wearing a dressing gown coming down to clock in the time card.
But Muraglia was acquitted when a judge ruled it was legitimate for an officer to clock in at the start of his shift and then go home to finished getting dressed.
Judge Paolo Luppi at the court in Imperia said getting dressed in the morning is an integral part of a government employee’s duties, local reports state.
After the ruling Muraglia told Il Messaggero: ‘It is the end of a nightmare, but I was sure they would absolve me.
‘I knew that I had done nothing wrong but it was good to hear the judge say that I am innocent.’
Muraglia was sacked as a result of the case and it sparked an investigation into the practice of government workers slacking off work.
Alessandro Moroni, who represented Muraglia, said his client was appointed custodian of a fruit and vegetable market in exchange for free accommodation in the market building.
He told La Riviera: ‘Donning a uniform was considered part of the working day and could therefore happen after clocking in.’
Muraglia was caught on police CCTV clocking in, then going back upstairs to his apartment to get dressed into his uniform before heading back to the office for his shift
The police officer sent his daughter to clock in his time card before he went to start work in the Italian town of Sanremo
Moroni added that Muraglia woke up at 5.30am to open the gates and took up service at 6am in his day job.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera described the ruling as a ‘surprise’ and that Muraglia was ‘a symbol of a world of lazy slackers in Italy’s public administration’.
More than 30 other public officials from Sanremo were caught up in the probe, including one who stamped his time card then went to the beach.
Another common practice is for government workers to also hold second jobs and not spend much time working for the state.
In total 16 entered plea bargain deals and were handed suspended prison sentences of 10 to 19 months, with the rest are awaiting trial.
Investigators estimated that half of the city’s 528 public servants were bunking off, including town hall staff who had second jobs as florists or others who went kayaking when they should have been working.
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