'Italian man murdered neighbour who trained parrot to insult him'

A Sardinian man been accused of stabbing his neighbour to death after claiming the woman had taught her parrot to abuse him.

Ignazio Frailis, 46, is alleged to have murdered married mother-of-two Maria Bonaria Contu, 60, as she was walking with friends on the Italian island.

He is accused of stabbing her 11 times and wounding a friend who tried to protect her.

According to Sardinian newspaper L’Unione Sarda, he was allegedly driven to kill his neighbour as her parrot was trained to insult him whenever he passed.

Mr Frailis, who is unemployed, would reportedly spend much of his time playing video games within earshot of the parrot, which an investigating magistrate said “became an obsession”.

Arresting officer Eugenio Fatone said: “He was very cold, very calm and full of rage.

“Officers had tried to talk to both sides and had suggested putting the parrot in a different room, not facing Mr Frailis’s house.”

Mr Frailis’ uncle Dario Serra called his nephew a “good person” who has “never hurt anyone”.

In 2014, police in Italy seized two African parrots from a group of drug dealers in Naples, who had trained the birds to act as drug pushers over the phone.