Italy’s top court has definitively cleared Silvio Berlusconi of charges that he paid for sex with an underage dancer and then abused his position as prime minister to cover it up.



After nine hours of deliberations, the judges at the court of cassation delivered a ruling on Tuesday that ends the lengthy legal saga which lifted the lid on the “bunga bunga” sex parties hosted by the billionaire tycoon and former Italian prime minister.



It also leaves the 78-year-old, who served three terms as premier, free to resume a central role in politics at the helm of his centre-right Forza Italia party.



Berlusconi has just finished serving a community service order for corporate tax fraud and remains embroiled in several other legal cases. But they are thought unlikely to prevent him from potentially energising opposition to prime minister Matteo Renzi’s plans to reform Italy’s government and electoral system.



The late-night verdict came after a hearing in which a senior prosecutor had described Berlusconi as having a “dragon’s passion” for teenage girls.



Berlusconi was convicted in 2013 of the most serious charges he has faced in a scandal-hit career, only to be acquitted on appeal a year later. The quashing of his seven-year jail term and a lifetime ban from public office triggered a counter-appeal by prosecutors to the court of cassation.



After a three-and-a half-hour hearing earlier yesterday, the judges spent nine hours considering before delivering their verdict. Berlusconi has always denied paying for sex with a 17-year-old called Karima el-Mahroug.



He maintained he only tried to help the Moroccan national when she was later arrested for an alleged theft because he thought she was a niece of the then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.



The appeal court appeared to accept that argument when it ruled that Berlusconi had not abused his power. The court also ruled that Berlusconi had not committed a crime in having sex with el-Mahroug as he did not know she was under 18, the legal minimum age for prostitution in Italy.

Prosecutor Edoardo Scardaccione had told the hearing that Berlusconi’s antics had held Italy up to ridicule. “The Mubarak’s niece episode was worthy of a Mel Brooks film,” he said. “The whole world was laughing at us behind our backs.”



Scardaccione was unsuccessful in his attempts to convince the judges that Berlusconi and his entourage knew that el-Mahroug was only 17 at the time of their encounter. “He had a dragon’s passion for minors,” the prosecutor told the court.

Berlusconi was not present at the hearing, which analysts had billed as crucial for his ability to reassert control over his fragmenting party.



Berlusconi’s entire political career has been overshadowed by allegations of criminal behaviour and serial court cases, and they are still not completely over.

He remains under investigation for allegedly paying off young women who attended his famous “bunga bunga” parties in return for false testimonies in the el-Mahroug trial.

Also outstanding is a charge that he paid a senator €3m (£2.1m) in 2006 to join his party and destabilise a centre-left government. Past experience, however, suggests the tycoon’s lawyers may be able to string out both cases long enough for the charges to be dropped without a judge ever making a ruling.