Captain gets 16 years for cruise ship disaster

An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced the captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, to 16 years and one month in prison for causing the 2012 cruise ship disaster that claimed 32 lives.

Schettino, 54, was sentenced at the end of a 19-month trial, three years after the giant liner struck rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

The conviction of the man dubbed "Captain Coward" by the media and "an idiot" by prosecutors, is subject to appeal, and Schettino will remain free for the time being after the three judges in the case rejected a request for him to be sent to jail immediately on the grounds that he could skip the country.