http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... 4-000.html
This is the dramatic moment a frustrated gambler returned to an Italian bar and smashed up seven fruit machines with an axe after losing more than £4,000.
Terrified drinkers dived for cover as Nure Bregu, 47, walked into the bar in the Italian village of Fontaniva, near Padua, and smashed up the machines in a fit of rage that is said to have lasted around 30 seconds.
Once he had destroyed the machines, Bregu calmly walked out of the Bar Madonnina and gave a thumbs up to two onlookers before waiting for the police to arrive and arrest him.
Witnesses said that the father-of-two was a regular on the fruit machines and had spent several hours feeding coins into them and complaining that he had lost 5,000 Euros (£4,313).
Bregu was sentenced to six years in jail for criminal damage, but walked free from court as prison sentences under two years are not enforced due to overcrowding.
The Chinese owner of the bar, who declined to be named, said: 'He comes in here all the time to play the machines. He's had some wins but he spends a lot of money.
'He is a labourer and only works every now and then.
'He's normally a very quiet man. There has never been any problems with him in the past.
'He just walked in very calmly with an axe and smashed all the machines. There were several customers by them at the time and they were terrified.
'Luckily no-one was hurt but the machines are all broken. It's going to cost me to replace them and I will be losing customers as when people came in they would always order something from the bar.'
Captain Marco Stabile, of the local carabinieri police, said: 'It must have been a very frightening episode for those in the bar but he was very calm afterwards and arrested immediately by my officers.
'He said that he had lost 5,000 Euros on the machines and was so angry he just went home got the axe and decided to vent his frustration on them.
'Thanks to the CCTV and the fact he was arrested immediately red handed he was sent for immediate trial at the local court.
'He had been in the bar every day for the past fortnight the owner said and had spent several hours at the machines. He didn't threaten any of the customers or the owner but just decided to attack the slot machine.'
The incident came just days after a local mayor had asked bar owners to switch off machines for 24 hours to combat the country's growing gambling addiction.
Slot machine addiction is a growing social phenomenon in Italy with arcades springing up all across the country as hard up Italians try and stretch their wages through gambling and several regional medical authorities have reported a rise in treating those hooked.
Earlier this year an Italian businessman was taken to hospital after worried bar owners in Bergamo called paramedics after he spent more than 12 hours on a machine pumping in more than £19,000.
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