An Italian who spat on the corpse of his mother in retaliation for his unhappy childhood has been fined by a Swiss court for "disturbing the peace of the dead".
The 31-year-old spat on his mother's body at a hospital morgue in northern Switzerland, shortly after her death.
He told the court that he did it out of hate for her, because she had often hit him while he was a child.
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However, Swiss laws prohibit people from "profaning... a human cadaver".
The district court in Zurich fined the man 400 francs (AU$424.30) and sentenced him to a suspended term of 180 days at 90 francs a day.
Under Swiss rules, such terms allow the convict to choose to either to spend the relevant period in jail, or pay up the specified sum.
In this case, given the suspended term of five years, the Italian could avoid paying the fine or going to jail altogether if he proves to be on good behaviour during the probation period of five years.
