Cyprus Mail 2 December 2022 - by Nick Theodoulou
The supreme court unanimously approved the attorney-general’s appeal over the 12-month sentence imposed on the hit-and-run driver who killed a Swedish mother in a fatal Ayia Napa crash earlier this summer.
The sentence has now been more than doubled to two-and-a-half years.
The family had previously called the perpetrator’s initial sentence “a huge insult”.
The case is centered on the fatal crash which occurred on May 5. Christina Camilla Palmdahl – aged 46 – had left her five-year-old daughter in the care of hotel staff so that she could cross the road and visit the nearby supermarket – only to be hit by the rental buggy at the pedestrian crossing soon after.
Police previously stated that the driver failed to stop at the pedestrian crossing where the woman was attempting to cross. “A young man driving the rental buggy overtook a stopped car, and hit the woman,” they said.
The 26-year-old British tourist, named as Manraj Singh Sidhu, was found guilty of carrying out a dangerous and reckless act which resulted in the death of a person, reckless and dangerous driving, and abandoning the scene of a fatal crash, among other charges. His driving licence was also suspended for 18 months.
Police found him hours later and subjected him to an alcotest which found a reading of 44μg, and a drugs test returned positive for cannabis.
A statement on Friday said that following the original sentencing, the attorney-general “immediately gave instructions to file an appeal” because the sentence was inadequate.
“The Supreme Court on December 1, 2022 accepted the appeal and increased the sentence to 2.5 years, sending the appropriate messages to society that provocative, selfish driving behaviours, which result in the loss of human lives, should be addressed with rigour,” it added.
