Pafos Live 12 November 2024
A Syrian man wanted in Limassol for serious cases was arrested in Paphos yesterday afternoon after a chase. According to Paphos Assistant Police Director of Operations, Michalis Nicolaou, at around 4 p.m. yesterday, information was given to the Police that a 41-year-old foreigner who was wanted by the Limassol Crime Detection Department for a case of kidnapping for murder and other offences committed between 4 and 6 October in Limassol, was in a specific car with other persons in the area of Kato Paphos.
Paphos police patrols went to the area and located two foreigners aged 21 and 27 who were arrested for lack of evidence proving their identity and for resisting their lawful arrest, according to Nicolaou.
The 41-year-old wanted man was spotted in a nearby store and fled. He was pursued by members of the Police and was arrested at a great distance. During the chase, and after milder measures were used to stop the wanted man without his obeying, a member of the Police fired a number of shots into the air.
The 41-year-old was found in possession of a quantity of white powder resembling cocaine, weighing approximately 1 gram. The 41-year-old Syrian has been handed over to members of the ICF of Limassol who are investigating the serious cases against him.
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Filenews
Arson with the use of flammable material is responsible for the fire that broke out today morning in two vehicles in Pyrgos, Limassol. The vehicles belong to a 36-year-old private employee and the company where she works, with one completely destroyed.
The fire broke out around 4:50 a.m. while vehicles were parked and locked on a private road outside the 36-year-old's home, just 2 meters from each other.
The scene was cordoned off by the authorities and members of the Limassol ICF as well as patrol cars of the Limassol Police Department rushed to the spot. The Fire Brigade was also called, members of which managed to bring the fire under control, but the damage to the 36-year-old's car was complete. On the other hand, the company's truck was badly damaged in its front.
On-the-spot examinations carried out revealed that the fire was set maliciously with the use of flammable material. The complainant is expected to be summoned to the ICF Limassol offices for testimony.
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A case of injury of a 26-year-old man, after a knife attack, is being investigated by the Police in Limassol. To facilitate interrogations, a 29-year-old man is wanted and a court arrest warrant is pending.
The attack on the 26-year-old occurred around 11 a.m. yesterday, while he was in a rented room, where he lives in Limassol.
According to the evidence under investigation, after an argument the victim had with a 29-year-old roommate, the latter allegedly attacked him with a knife, injuring him in the abdomen and leg.
The 29-year-old then left the scene in an unknown direction.
The 26-year-old was taken to Limassol General Hospital, where his injuries were sutured and he was detained for treatment.
A court warrant was issued for the 29-year-old and he is wanted.
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As part of an investigation into a case of burglary of a building and theft, the Police proceeded yesterday to arrest one person.
He is a 40-year-old man who was arrested on a court warrant and taken into custody.
The case concerns a complaint made on 18/07/2024 by an employee of a company in Ayia Napa, for theft from the company's containers, various hydraulic components, worth more than €41.000.
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The Court of Appeal has decided to increase the sentences against a person convicted of raping a child in 2019 in Paphos after ruling that the sentences imposed on him at first instance were insufficient.
Initially, the Criminal Court in Paphos imposed sentences of 6 years imprisonment on each of the charges of rape, sexual abuse of a child and indecent assault and 5 years on the charge of corruption of a woman between 13-17 years old.
Both the defendant and the prosecution appealed, the former for his conviction and the latter for the sentence. The Court of Appeal, after weighing all the facts with particular weight in the video taken by the defendant during the rape, decided to increase the sentence on the charges of rape and sexual abuse of a child by abuse of a position of trust from six years to nine years and on the charge of sexual abuse to six years from five.
According to the facts as presented in a judgment of the Court of Appeal, the complainant lives in the United Kingdom and was on holiday with her family in Paphos. In 2018, while she was with her aunt, she met the Defendant and they started meeting as a company, whereupon the accused told the complainant's aunt that he liked the minor and wanted to be with her. The aunt explained to the defendant that the complainant was 14 years old. The defendant took the complainant's Snapchat and Instagram accounts and sent her messages.
On two occasions, in April 2018, the defendant asked the complainant via SnapChat to send him nude photos of herself, but she refused. The accused presented himself to the complainant as a good friend and she confided in him her personal matters.
In 2019, before the minor came to Cyprus, the defendant (then 20 years old) sent her a message asking her to meet him and on 18.8.2019 he texted her again to meet the next day. On 19.8.2019 late at night the accused picked up the complainant by car from her apartment and they parked somewhere on the beach.
The rape took place inside the vehicle with the complainant reporting the incident to the Rape Crisis Centre in London seeking advice. Despite being advised to go to a doctor in Cyprus, she did not do so because she was scared and did not want her mother to know.
The defendant had argued in court that everything was done with the minor's consent and that she asked him to send her the video he possessed.
The Court of Appeal, after hearing all the grounds of appeal, rejected them. Especially with regard to the relatively small age difference of five years between the accused and the complainant, the Court of Appeal held that this could not be of particular importance either, since in the circumstances of the present recognition of such an element as a determining factor would send out the wrong signals. The fact that the age difference in the present case was not one of the extreme cases encountered in the case-law was, in any event, duly taken into account at first instance.
According to the Court of Appeal, "having regard to the facts surrounding the present case as recorded above, the age of the victim and the defendant's exploitation of the relationship of trust that existed between them, we conclude that the sentences imposed on categories 1, 2, 3 and 4 (relating to rape, sexual abuse, indecent assault and corruption of a woman aged 13-17) do not properly reflect the seriousness of the offences and are manifestly inadequate.
The Criminal Appeal succeeds and the sentences imposed on the Accused at first instance for categories 1 to 4 are annulled and replaced with the following sentences: In categories 1, 3 and 4: 9 years' imprisonment in each category. In the 2nd category: sentence of imprisonment of 8 years. The penalties must be met."
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The Attorney General of the Republic considers as manifestly insufficient the sentence imposed on the 32-year-old Syrian defendant, who almost killed an 80-year-old woman on foot while she was crossing a pedestrian crossing, leaving her injured on the street on the morning of November 1.
Last Friday, the Limassol Court imposed on the defendant, after admitting, a fine of €2,800, 20 days of suspended imprisonment, as well as 3 months deprivation of a driving license – a license which, however, he did not hold.
According to reliable information of Filenews, the Attorney General is expected tomorrow (13/11) to proceed with the registration of an appeal against the sentence imposed, considering that it is manifestly insufficient, due to the seriousness of the offenses and the need to impose dissuasive sentences.
We remind you that the case was registered last Friday (8/11) before the Limassol Court, with the defendant admitting the charges of negligent driving, leaving the scene of an accident with injured people without assistance, driving without a license and without insurance coverage, as well as violating two red lights.
The 32-year-old from Syria, driving his motorcycle recklessly and without permission, overtook cars and dragged the 80-year-old, who was crossing the pedestrian crossing. He then passed the traffic lights in red with the incident recorded by photo-tagging cameras. The 80-year-old suffered serious injuries and was taken to a private hospital, where she was found to have a fractured wrist, retinal detachment and abrasions. The 32-year-old's vehicle in front complied with the red light and the pedestrian began crossing the road from east to west.
The accident happened on the morning of November 1st on Nikos Pattichi Street. The Limassol Traffic Police, after being informed about the incident, its members visited the scene for on-site examinations. From the written testimonies obtained and the CCTV footage of adjacent shops, the circumstances of the traffic accident were ascertained.
