AceShowbiz - A man accused of stalking Colin Firth's wife, Livia Giuggioli, has been officially charged. The couple made a complaint to Italian police accusing journalist Marco Brancaccia of terrorizing her with messages and phone calls earlier this year. Brancaccia has previously denied their accusations, claiming Firth's wife invented the harassment allegations to cover up an affair she had with him, which began in 2015 and ended the following year.

In a statement to The Times in March, the couple's spokesman confirmed the affair, insisting it took place while the Oscar winner and his wife were briefly separated, and claiming Brancaccia harassed her after the fling ended.

"A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate," the statement read. "During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited."

The statement continued, "Subsequently, Mr Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. The Firths have two children and live in Chiswick, west London, and own a house in Umbria. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public."

According to People magazine sources, Brancaccia was charged with stalking at a hearing in Rome, Italy on Tuesday, May 1, and a judge will determine if the case will be brought to trial in July. If convicted, Brancaccia could be sentenced to five years in jail. Colin and Livia have yet to comment.

Speaking about the stalking allegations in March, Marco said, "My 'stalking' consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email. I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work."

"In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary," he claimed.