Italian court convicts Swiss billionaire in asbestos deaths

FILE PHOTO: Posters reading "Stephan Schmidheiny your place is in prison" are displayed outside the courthouse during a trial against the Swiss firm Eternit's Italian plant in Turin February 13, 2012. The company closed its Italian operations in 1986. REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced a Swiss billionaire to 12 years in jail after convicting him on charges of aggravated manslaughter related to the death of hundreds of people from exposure to asbestos.

Judges in the city of Novara issued the verdict after more than seven hours of deliberations, according to multiple Italian media reports, which said prosecutors had asked for life imprisonment.