Antonio Piazza had used the space for three years

Even by the standards of Italian politicians behaving badly, Antonio Piazza’s conduct was shocking.

A leader of Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party in the northern town of Lecco, Mr Piazza slashed the tyres of a disabled driver in a dispute over a parking space.

Mr Piazza, a transplanted Sicilian and former postman who is president of the local public housing agency, was in the habit of parking his Jaguar in the empty parking space reserved for disabled drivers outside his office.

He had used the space for three years — until he met Giuseppe Scuderi.

Mr Scuderi, looking to park his modest Renault, found the disabled spot filled with a car with no disabled badge.

Unlike most citizens who would look the other way,