Bolshoi ballet dancer found guilty of acid attack

A Bolshoi star dancer and two other men were today convicted of an acid attack on the ballet’s director that exposed vicious backstage bickering and intrigue at the renowned theatre.

In Moscow judge Yelena Maximova pronounced Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko guilty of the January 17 attack on Sergei Filin.

She said that Dmitrichenko and two other men had made plans to hurt Filin a few months before the attack.

The judge didn’t spell out the role of each of man in the opening pages of the verdict.

Prosecutors asked for a nine-year sentence for Dmitrichenko, 10 years for ex-convict Yuri Zarutsky, suspected of carrying out the attack, and six years for their driver, Andrei Lipatov.

The star dancer has pleaded not guilty but has admitted “moral responsibility” because he spoke badly of Filin in front of Zarutsky.

Dmitrichenko had claimed he was passed over for the best parts in the theatre.

Filin lost most of the sight in one eye and 20% in the other.

In his testimony, Filin called Dmitrichenko a volatile and threatening employee who was always stirring up trouble, but stopped short of accusing him of plotting the attack.