Italian Scientists get 6 Years Prison Sentance...

Six Italian scientists and a government official have been found guilty of multiple manslaughter for underestimating the risks of a killer earthquake in L'Aquila in 2009.

They were sentenced to six years in jail on Monday in a watershed ruling in a case that has provoked outrage in the international science community.

The experts were also ordered to pay more than nine million euros ($A11.5 million) in damages to survivors and inhabitants. Under the Italian justice system, the seven will remain free men until they have exhausted two chances to appeal the verdict.

Some commentators had warned that any convictions would dissuade other experts from sharing their expertise for fear of legal retribution.

Prosecutor Fabio Picuti had asked for jail sentences of four years for each defendant for failing to alert the population of the walled medieval town of L'Aquila to the risks, days before the 6.3-magnitude quake killed 309 people.

Click to expand...