Matthew Pendlington
There are only a few people who have the dexterity to be an international man of mystery. James Bond, Austin Powers, sometimes I even think of myself as one. However, one man who is determined to add himself to that list is Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian leader, who is to now stand trial for ‘allegedly’ having sex with an under-age prostitute.
Age, apparently, is no barrier for a man looking for a date, despite the sixty year age gap. Even the biology of the man could not slow him down. Though, the fact that he is worth almost six billion pounds and is one of the most powerful men in the world has nothing to do with it at all…
At the centre of the storm is Karima El Mahroug who, much like her Prime Minister, has rigorously denied the allegations. Yet despite both insisting that the claims are false, a trial is still being held in April, with Berlusconi facing a possible 15-year jail sentence. The fact that Ms Mahroug received a gift of around six thousand pounds at one of Berlusconi’s parties is also purely coincidental; she was apparently mistaken for the granddaughter of the former Egyptian leader Mr Mubarak. And who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Obviously, if proved, Mr Berlusconi’s actions are impermissible, but we should spare some sympathy towards him. The girl, despite her profession, seemingly made every effort to look anything but under-age. Beyond all logic (but with a large enough chequebook), Berlusconi can have any and every woman he likes. But would even he knowingly choose a girl who is under-age? What difference is there to a seventy year old between a girl in her twenties and a girl in her late teens? Either way, I am sure that Berlusconi would have been satisfied with the fruits of his labour.
The fact of the matter is that girls around town are trying desperately to deny that they are underage and deceive older men that they are 18 plus, to be seen as cool as possible by their peers. If a nice looking lady who looks, talks and walks like a student comes up to you on a night out; are you really going to ask to see some identification to determine whether she is ‘of age’ before things progress? Of course not, because the likelihood is she has already led you to believe that she is a student.
And therein lies the problem with society. Girls are spending too much time trying to grow up as quickly as possible. If you’re unfortunate enough to meet one of these, then you’ll probably wake up the next morning, not in a state of happiness, but with an arrest warrant over your head for allegations of rape, sex with a minor, and a paternity test: despite being led into believing otherwise.
Unfortunately, Berlusconi already has a bounty on his head for many other misdemeanours, so he is unlikely to be let off and rightly so because he is an imbecile. However, this may well be one of those times when he has made a genuine mistake and has been fooled into believing otherwise. He won’t be shaken by these allegations, but he has certainly stirred things up.