Eliseo Bongiorno, 67, from Dalmine in Bergamo, put muriatic acid into his wife's water bottles in a bid to stop her listening to Radio Maria, the Catholic broadcasting service, ArticoloTre reported.

But she grew suspicious of the plot after burning her mouth on the water and came up with her own plan in a bid to solve the mystery. After finding several empty phials among the household rubbish, she enlisted the help of her son to fit a micro video camera in an alarm clock

The camera captured the retired carpenter lacing her water with acid. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, but a court found that the quantity of acid was not enough to cause death and so he was dismissed, a decision his wife wasn't too happy about, ArticoloTre reported.

Bongiorno explained that he had wanted "just to make her feel slightly ill." He claimed that this "would have stopped her from organizing pilgrimages to the shrine of Padre Pio in San Giovanni, and listening to Radio Maria all day long. She's completely obsessed.”

Don't miss a story about Italy – Join us on Facebook and Twitter.