Sunday, March 23, 2025

CRIME ROUND UP

 Pafos Live 23 March 2025



Members of the Police arrested two people yesterday, as part of an investigation into cases of burglaries of two houses and a premises, committed in recent days, in the Nicosia district. Specifically, a 47-year-old man was arrested in connection with the three burglary cases, while in connection with one of the three cases, a 35-year-old man was also arrested.

The burglaries in the two residences were committed on March 08-09 and March 20 respectively. Money, jewellery and a wallet containing bank cards were stolen from the first residence, which were then used in automatic cash registers, where money was withdrawn. Money, jewellery and a bank card were stolen from the second residence, which was cancelled in time, without being used by the perpetrators.

The third burglary was committed on March 17, at a premises, where money was stolen from the customer service counter.

During the investigation of the three cases, evidence emerged against the 47-year-old, while regarding the burglary of the residence on March 20, evidence also emerged against the 35-year-old. Arrest warrants were issued against them, pursuant to which they were arrested on Friday, by members of the Nicosia TAE.

The 47-year-old was already in custody, after he was arrested on Thursday evening, in Nicosia, where members of the Police subjected him to a check and found in his possession jewellery and other items, as well as burglary tools, for the possession of which he did not give satisfactory explanations. He had been subjected to a check, as part of an investigation into information about the commission of burglaries and thefts.

* * * * * *


Filenews

As part of the actions to tackle illegal immigration, a coordinated operation was carried out today by members of the Aliens and Migration Service, with the participation of members of the Green Line Surveillance and Migration Flows Response Sub-Directorate.

During the operation, which took place in the Paphos district, a total of 51 foreign nationals of third countries were identified and arrested, for the flagrant offence of illegal stay in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.

Of the 51 arrested, 37 were immediately repatriated, while the remaining 14 were detained, with their repatriation procedures in their countries of origin ongoing.

According to a police briefing, the Aliens and Immigration Service continues its targeted control and surveillance operations, aiming to comply with the law, strengthening efforts to combat illegal immigration.

* * * * * *

The Police in Limassol arrested a 60-year-old man, who is considered a suspect in a case of extortion of money and jewellery from an elderly woman.

According to information from the Police, the man presented himself as a doctor and managed to deceive the victim, extorting a sum of money of more than €5,000, as well as valuable jewellery. The complaint was submitted to the authorities on Wednesday, March 19, with the Police immediately starting investigations to identify the perpetrator.

In a search carried out on the suspect after his arrest, part of the amount of money was found as well as all the stolen valuables. The authorities are continuing their investigations to determine whether the 60-year-old is involved in other similar cases, while he is expected to be brought before the Court for the issuance of a detention order

On the part of the Police, it is reported that according to the complaint, on March 19, 2025, the complainant received a phone call from an unknown man, who spoke Greek, and introduced himself to her as a doctor at the Limassol General Hospital.

The stranger convinced her that her grandson had been involved in a serious accident and was in danger of being amputated, unless a certain amount of money was paid to transport a transplant from abroad.

The complainant, convinced by the stranger's words, went to a predetermined point in Limassol, where she met with an unknown man, to whom she handed over the sum of €5,500 in cash, as well as various jewellery and gold worth about  €10,000.

Subsequently, the unknown man left the area in an unknown direction. Later, the woman contacted her relatives and found out that she had been a victim of fraud.

As part of the investigation of the case, members of the Limassol Bicycle Police located and arrested this afternoon, on the basis of a court warrant, a 60-year-old man.

In a physical search that was carried out on him, a sum of money was found in his possession, while in his car, a quantity of jewellery was found, which is believed to be the stolen property.

* * * * * *

The Police arrested a 36-year-old man on Friday, in order to facilitate the investigations regarding a robbery case, committed in Nicosia, 12 years ago.

A police announcement states that the 36-year-old was located late Friday afternoon at Larnaca airport, after arriving in Cyprus, from a foreign country. On Saturday morning, he was brought before the Nicosia District Court, which issued a two-day detention order against him.

The robbery was committed on 10 March 2013, in a restaurant in Nicosia. According to the evidence of the case, two persons, who were wearing hoods, entered the restaurant and after hitting an employee, stole a sum of money from the safe.

For the same case, a person was arrested shortly after the robbery was committed, who was sentenced by the Court to prison and has already served his sentence.

The Nicosia TAE is investigating the case.

* * * * * *

With explicit references that it is necessary to stop the escalation of the criminal activity of illegals who intentionally and maliciously provoke fire, and this necessity imposes the attribution of a deterrent character to the punishment in order to protect the life and property of citizens, the Larnaca Assize Court, with its recent decision, imposed concurrent prison sentences of four years to a citizen who was found guilty of the offenses of intentional and illegal arson (lighting of fire) in crops and plantations, malicious damage and assault on an instrument of order.

According to an announcement by the Legal Service, indicative of the seriousness that the Court attributes to such crimes and the frequency with which they are committed, are the remarks in its decision. 

"This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated. The fact that there was no danger to human life and that the defendant had no interest or financial benefit does not differentiate the fact that he set fire to another person's property. Of course, the fact that the fire did not spread cannot be taken into account as a mitigating factor, given that the fire originated from his deliberate action. Its non-expansion is also due to the immediate intervention of the Fire Service. In other words, an entire mechanism was mobilized to extinguish a fire that came from an unauthorized action of the accused. In fact, his delinquent behaviour did not stop there. He also attacked a law enforcement officer who rushed to the scene performing his duties due to the action of the accused."

"There is no doubt that the offences in which the accused has been found guilty are serious. It has been repeatedly stressed that the seriousness of an offence is reflected by the maximum penalty provided for by law [...], which in the case of Article 317 (d) of the Criminal Code Cap. 154 in the fact that he set fire, which is the most serious, the punishment provided for is that of 14 years imprisonment".

"This outrage imposes the attribution of a deterrent character to the punishment in an attempt to limit the criminal activity of illegals and to protect the life and property of citizens."

In order to mitigate the sentences, the particular circumstances of the accused and his immediate admission of committing the offences were taken into account.

On behalf of the Attorney General of the Republic, the case was handled by Mr. Marios A. Koutsoftas, Lawyer of the Republic.