Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

An HIV-positive man has been arrested in Italy for hiding at least three possibly infected syringes on shopping centre shelves.

The middle-aged man, name not disclosed, was arrested for hiding the syringes in the Centronova shopping centre in the town of Castenaso in the Italian city of Bologna.

The syringes were placed on the shelves without a protective cap on the needle, however, it is not yet clear whether the needles were infected.

Store workers discovered the syringes on three separate occasions between 8th and 18th January, and informed the police who started the investigation.

One of the syringes was found on a supermarket shelf among oral hygiene products, and two more were hidden on the shelves of another store in the commercial centre.

After having confiscated the syringes, the police collected testimonies and viewed the video surveillance images, quickly identifying the detained suspect.

Police also found him in possession of 55 new syringes along with medical documentation certifying his HIV diagnosis.

The arrested man has not revealed the motive behind his crime.

Further investigations are underway to see if he had contaminated the needles to attempt to transmit HIV.

The seized material was sent to the Scientific Investigations Department of Parma for technical and scientific investigations.

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