A36-year-old man on Monday night confessed to the femicide of his 47-year-old partner near Salerno at the weekend, the latest in a spate of shocking episodes of violence against women in Italy.

Building labourer Christian Persico said he strangled Tina Sgarbini because she had thrown him out as he refused to work and she wanted to leave him.

Sgarbini had three children from a previous relationship.

Persico’s lawyer said his client tried to kill himself after the murder by jumping off a bridge and still had signs of injuries sustained in the fall.

The femicide occurred in the small town of Montecorvino Rovella.