Costa Concordia Captain Guilty Of Manslaughter

The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner has been jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of multiple manslaughter.

Judges ruled that Francesco Schettino was responsible for the deaths of 32 people after the ship smashed into rocks off Giglio island in January 2012.

The 54-year-old is expected to appeal the decision, which means it could be years before he is actually jailed for the crime, but prosecutors have requested that Schettino is imprisoned immediately.

Widely dubbed "Captain Coward" in the Italian media, the 54-year-old was captured on video abandoning the ship following the collision - but always maintained he had "tripped" into a lifeboat.

Schettino was not present as Judge Giovanni Puliatti read out the verdict at a theatre in Grosseto, which had been especially adapted into a courtroom so the victims' families could attend the trial.

Sky Correspondent Jonathan Samuels said: "This is a significant sentence. Francesco Schettino was sentenced to 10 years in prison for multiple manslaughter, five years for causing a shipwreck, and one year for abandoning incapacitated people on board the vessel."

In the long-running trial, which began in July 2013, prosecutors claimed that Schettino lured passengers into a false sense of security by not ordering an immediate evacuation. They had been seeking a 26-year sentence for the disgraced seaman.

But the defence claimed that the captain had saved lives by delaying the evacuation and allowing the ship to drift into shallow waters.

Before the judges had gone out to deliberate in an actor's dressing room, Schettino had emotionally claimed he was being "sacrificed" to save the economic interests of his employer, Costa Cruises.

Weeping openly, he said he was "a few hours from a verdict that should have involved an entire organisation, and instead sees me as the only defendant".

Five other officers who had a "marginal" role in the accident had their plea bargains accepted in May 2013, and were sentenced to between 18 and 34 months.

Meanwhile, the owner of Costa Concordia was fined £850,000, and has spent an estimated £1.1bn to refloat the ship and tow it from Giglio to the Italian port of Genoa, where it has been broken up for scrap.

Survivor Andrea Davis, who wrote a book about her ordeal aboard the ship, told Sky News: "I am totally astounded. I did not anticipate this gut-wrenching emotional turmoil that has just swept over me.

"His sentence has left me thoughtful on how our lives have changed since the accident, and how many people have been impacted by the tragedy and the trauma of his selfish behaviour."

A lawyer for many of the survivors, Phillip Banks, said the fight for compensation goes on.

"Today's verdict is a helpful development, together with some of the information that has come out of the trial," he added.

"We're working closely with lawyers in Italy to issue proceedings against Costa. Our thoughts are obviously with the people who continue to live with the trauma three years on."

Two Britons who survived the accident, Janice and Ian Donoff, told Sky News Tonight: "One year for abandoning ship is just appalling. For the families of those who died, ten years will not be enough for manslaughter, either.

"Francesco Schettino needs to take responsibility for causing the shipwreck, and as the captain, for his dereliction of duty."