Victory for policeman in Y-fronts as Italian court says dressing is all part of a day’s work

Images of the officer in his underwear became an emblem of the battle against slackers in official places

AN ITALIAN court has ruled that getting dressed in the morning is part of an employee’s official duties, after siding with a policeman who became a symbol of skiving officialdom when he was caught clocking on for work in his underpants.

Alberto Muraglia became a national laughing stock in 2015 after his portly frame, in Y-fronts and T-shirt, was captured on CCTV punching a time card at his place of work – a council building where he and his family had an apartment upstairs.

After clocking on to work, he went back upstairs to his apartment to get dressed for his day’s shift in Sanremo, in the north-west region of Liguria. But a court in the nearby town of Imperia has ruled it was legitimate for the officer to clock on at the start of his shift and then go home to put on his uniform, saying that getting dressed in the morning is an integral part of a public servant’s duties.

The court acquitted him of the charge of defrauding the state of public funds. Nor was the fact that Mr Muraglia sometimes sent his daughter downstairs to punch his timecard on his behalf considered fraudulent.

When the case first came to light in 2015, Mr Muraglia’s lawyer said that his state of undress was no obstacle to carrying out his duties, claiming he once foiled a robbery in his underpants.

The case prompted a national debate in Italy, where it is not unknown for officials to skive while holding down second jobs.

The images of the policeman in his underwear became an emblem of Italy’s battle against fannulloni (slackers) in council offices and government departments across the country.

Mr Muraglia was one of 35 people arrested after a two-year police investigation named Operation Stakhanov, an ironic reference to the legendary hardworking figure of Alexey Stakhanov, a Soviet miner.