Gucci Trial Re-Opened

The Gucci trial, which is to be re-opened this Friday, divides one of Italy's best-known fashion dynasties as Patrizia Reggiani goes on trial for the second time for the murder of her estranged husband, Maurizio Gucci.

Reggiani, 56 - known by the Italian press as the Black Widow - was jailed for 26 years in 1998 for ordering the shooting of Gucci outside his Milan office three years earlier.

Reggiani's daughters Alessandra, 27, and Allegra, 22, have always insisted that their mother is innocent and have persuaded a judge to permit a retrial to test their claim that she was not in command of her mental faculties.

Determined to secure the release of Reggiani who, they say, is dying of a brain disease, they plan to take the stand in her defence at the trial, which begins on Friday.