Italian cops have arrested an elderly man for attempting to kill his neighbour by drilling a hole into the wall of his house and pumping it with gas.

Cops in the comune of Bianze (population 1,950 in 2017) in the northern Italian province of Vercelli arrested the unnamed 63-year-old man for attempted murder.

The incident took place in the early afternoon of Sunday, 15th August.

The would-be victim discovered the crime when he returned home from shopping and noticed a strong smell of gas coming from his house.

Because of the smell, he did not enter his home. Instead, he checked the outside walls to make sure the pipes going into the kitchen and the room housing the boiler were not damaged.

It was only when he inspected the back wall of his house that he found a rubber tube inserted into a small hole made in the wall leading to a gas cylinder.

The man then called the fire brigade, who sealed off the area, and the police launched an investigation into the incident.

Following the brief investigation, the man’s elderly neighbour emerged as the irrefutable suspect, and his arrest took place on Monday, 23rd August.

According to the police investigation, the two men had had past disagreements that had remained unresolved, and this is believed to have motivated the crime.

The police arrested the elderly man and requested judicial authorisation for his preventive detention, which was granted and carried out.

The police believe the man planned the crime meticulously, and he will answer to the charge of attempted murder.