Siegen, Germany - A 24-year-old German convict has returned home from Italy, where he and his partner had abandoned the woman's three young children at a pizza restaurant last month, German lawyers said on Wednesday. The man, who had failed to return from prison leave, was handed over to the German authorities after being held in Italy ever since the couple were found hiding in a forest, a few kilometres from where they had left the children.
The man had driven to Italy with his 26-year-old partner and her children in early April. After running out of money in the north Italian town of Aosta, they abandoned their car and then the three children, aged 6, 4, and 10 months, prompting a huge man-hunt for the couple.
The mother was returned to Germany shortly after the couple was found, while the man was held in Italian custody where he attempted to commit suicide.
It is thought that the 24-year-old, who had been held in an open prison, will have to complete the remainder of his sentence in a higher-security establishment.
The man had been sentenced until mid-2011 for extortionate robbery.
