John Woodcock (magistrate)

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Henry John Woodcock (born 23 March 1967) is an Italian prosecutor based in Naples. He was born in Taunton, England. His father was British and taught at Livorno’s Naval Academy, and his mother was from Naples. Woodcock worked in Potenza for about ten years, where he teamed up with Luigi De Magistris, who later became mayor of Naples, and they carried out anti-mafia investigations.

He became a prosecutor in 1996 and became known for his work on major scandals, including Vip Gate in 2003 and Savoiagate in 2006. On 16 June 2006, he secured an arrest warrant from the judge in charge of the preliminary investigation for Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy in Varenna. The charges included corruption, forgery, and organizing prostitution in connection with the Campione d’Italia casino case. The arrest followed wiretaps as part of a two-year investigation. Thirteen of the 24 people investigated were arrested; seven jailed and six placed under house arrest. Other suspects included Salvatore Sottile (spokesman for former foreign minister Gianfranco Fini) and casino managers from Messina. Italian television said Vittorio Emanuele’s cousin Simeon II of Bulgaria, the last Tsar and former prime minister of Bulgaria, was also under investigation. Vittorio Emanuele was acquitted in Rome in 2010. Woodcock moved to Naples in September 2009.