diff --git a/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommand.php b/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0b2820ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; under version 2
+ * of the License (non-upgradable).
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA.
+ */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace oat\taoItems\model\Command;
+
+use core_kernel_classes_Resource;
+
+class DeleteItemCommand
+{
+    private core_kernel_classes_Resource $resource;
+    private bool $deleteRelatedAssets;
+
+    public function __construct(core_kernel_classes_Resource $resource, bool $deleteRelatedAssets = false)
+    {
+        $this->resource = $resource;
+        $this->deleteRelatedAssets = $deleteRelatedAssets;
+    }
+
+    public function getResource(): core_kernel_classes_Resource
+    {
+        return $this->resource;
+    }
+
+    public function mustDeleteRelatedAssets(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->deleteRelatedAssets;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/models/classes/class.ItemsService.php b/models/classes/class.ItemsService.php
index 8ee98724..21d65def 100755
--- a/models/classes/class.ItemsService.php
+++ b/models/classes/class.ItemsService.php
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@
  *                         (under the project TAO-TRANSFER);
  *               2009-2012 (update and modification) Public Research Centre Henri Tudor
  *                         (under the project TAO-SUSTAIN & TAO-DEV);
- *               2012-2016 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA (under the project TAO-PRODUCT)
+ *               2012-2023 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA (under the project TAO-PRODUCT)
  */
 
+use oat\taoItems\model\Command\DeleteItemCommand;
 use oat\taoItems\model\TaoItemOntology;
 use oat\generis\model\fileReference\FileReferenceSerializer;
 use oat\oatbox\filesystem\Directory;
@@ -132,6 +133,37 @@ public function isItemClass(core_kernel_classes_Class $clazz)
         return $clazz->equals($this->getRootClass()) || $clazz->isSubClassOf($this->getRootClass());
     }
 
+    public function delete(DeleteItemCommand $command): void
+    {
+        $resource = $command->getResource();
+
+        if (LockManager::getImplementation()->isLocked($resource)) {
+            $userId = common_session_SessionManager::getSession()->getUser()->getIdentifier();
+            LockManager::getImplementation()->releaseLock($resource, $userId);
+        }
+
+        $result = $this->deleteItemContent($resource) && parent::deleteResource($resource);
+
+        if (!$result) {
+            throw new Exception(
+                sprintf(
+                    'Error deleting item content for resource "%s" [%s]',
+                    $resource->getLabel(),
+                    $resource->getUri()
+                )
+            );
+        }
+
+        $this->getEventManager()->trigger(
+            new ItemRemovedEvent(
+                $resource->getUri(),
+                [
+                    ItemRemovedEvent::PAYLOAD_KEY_DELETE_RELATED_ASSETS => $command->mustDeleteRelatedAssets(),
+                ]
+            )
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * please call deleteResource() instead
      * @deprecated
@@ -146,21 +178,17 @@ public function deleteItem(core_kernel_classes_Resource $item)
      * @param core_kernel_classes_Resource $resource
      * @throws common_exception_Unauthorized
      * @return boolean
+     * @deprecated use self::delete()
      */
     public function deleteResource(core_kernel_classes_Resource $resource)
     {
-        if (LockManager::getImplementation()->isLocked($resource)) {
-            $userId = common_session_SessionManager::getSession()->getUser()->getIdentifier();
-            LockManager::getImplementation()->releaseLock($resource, $userId);
-        }
-
-        $result = $this->deleteItemContent($resource) && parent::deleteResource($resource);
+        try {
+            $this->delete(new DeleteItemCommand($resource));
 
-        if ($result) {
-            $this->getEventManager()->trigger(new ItemRemovedEvent($resource->getUri()));
+            return true;
+        } catch (Throwable $exception) {
+            return false;
         }
-
-        return $result;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/models/classes/event/ItemRemovedEvent.php b/models/classes/event/ItemRemovedEvent.php
index c6d6eda4..8adc5630 100644
--- a/models/classes/event/ItemRemovedEvent.php
+++ b/models/classes/event/ItemRemovedEvent.php
@@ -15,49 +15,39 @@
  * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
  * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2016 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA
- *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016-2023 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA.
  */
 
 namespace oat\taoItems\model\event;
 
-use JsonSerializable;
 use oat\oatbox\event\Event;
+use JsonSerializable;
 
 class ItemRemovedEvent implements Event, JsonSerializable
 {
-    /** @var  string */
-    protected $itemUri;
+    public const PAYLOAD_KEY_DELETE_RELATED_ASSETS = 'deleteRelatedAssets';
+    public const PAYLOAD_KEY_ITEM_URI = 'itemUri';
 
-    /**
-     * @param String $itemUri
-     */
-    public function __construct($itemUri)
+    protected string $itemUri;
+
+    private array $payload;
+
+    public function __construct(string $itemUri, array $payload = [])
     {
         $this->itemUri = $itemUri;
+        $this->payload = $payload;
     }
 
-
-    /**
-     * Return a unique name for this event
-     * @see \oat\oatbox\event\Event::getName()
-     */
     public function getName()
     {
         return get_class($this);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Specify data which should be serialized to JSON
-     * @link http://php.net/manual/en/jsonserializable.jsonserialize.php
-     * @return mixed data which can be serialized by <b>json_encode</b>,
-     * which is a value of any type other than a resource.
-     * @since 5.4.0
-     */
     public function jsonSerialize()
     {
-        return [
-            'itemUri' => $this->itemUri
-        ];
+        return array_merge(
+            [self::PAYLOAD_KEY_ITEM_URI => $this->itemUri],
+            $this->payload
+        );
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/model/event/ItemRemovedEventTest.php b/test/unit/model/event/ItemRemovedEventTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5bbe5c80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/model/event/ItemRemovedEventTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; under version 2
+ * of the License (non-upgradable).
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA
+ */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace oat\taoItems\test\unit\model\event;
+
+use oat\taoItems\model\event\ItemRemovedEvent;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class ItemRemovedEventTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testGetters(): void
+    {
+        $event = new ItemRemovedEvent(
+            'itemUri',
+            [
+                ItemRemovedEvent::PAYLOAD_KEY_DELETE_RELATED_ASSETS => true,
+            ]
+        );
+
+        $this->assertSame(ItemRemovedEvent::class, $event->getName());
+        $this->assertSame(
+            [
+                ItemRemovedEvent::PAYLOAD_KEY_ITEM_URI => 'itemUri',
+                ItemRemovedEvent::PAYLOAD_KEY_DELETE_RELATED_ASSETS => true,
+            ],
+            $event->jsonSerialize()
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommandTest.php b/test/unit/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommandTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..74a011ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/models/classes/Command/DeleteItemCommandTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation; under version 2
+ * of the License (non-upgradable).
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 (original work) Open Assessment Technologies SA
+ */
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace oat\taoItems\test\unit\models\classes\Command;
+
+use core_kernel_classes_Resource;
+use oat\taoItems\model\Command\DeleteItemCommand;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class DeleteItemCommandTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testGetters(): void
+    {
+        $resource = $this->createMock(core_kernel_classes_Resource::class);
+        $command = new DeleteItemCommand($resource, true);
+
+        $this->assertSame($resource, $command->getResource());
+        $this->assertTrue($command->mustDeleteRelatedAssets());
+    }
+}