Filenews 12 December 2025
The Limassol District Court finally referred to the condition of the road network where the fatal accident occurred in October 2022, in Pyrgos, Limassol district, with the victim being the 22-year-old motorcyclist, Panayiotis Constantinou, which convicted the accused driver of negligent driving, imposing a fine of €3.000.
The road where the 22-year-old lost his life, as pointed out in the decision, "needs immediate and substantial improvement, including possible widening, as well as the installation of street lighting and appropriate signage, in order to avoid similar incidents in the future".
The 38-year-old defendant was found guilty, after his own admission, of the only charge he faced, which concerned the crime of negligent driving. He admitted that on October 21, 2022, on 28th October Street in Pyrgos, he was driving his vehicle without exercising due diligence and attention, causing material damage.
According to the facts, the accused around 6:30 in the afternoon of 21/10/22, driving in a northerly direction and having his minor daughter, then aged 8, as a passenger, entered the opposite direction of traffic at a point where the width of the road narrowed from 7.3 to 5.3 meters, without a dividing line. The result was a collision with a racing-type off-road motorcycle, which was moving in a southerly direction and was driven by 22-year-old Panagiotis Konstantinou.
The victim was driving with one wheel raised and without registration plates, without having adequate control of the motorcycle and without taking into account other road users. Although he tried at the last minute to regain control, the collision was inevitable. The 22-year-old wore full motorcyclist gear and a protective helmet. His friends, also racing motorcycle drivers, were following and saw the accident. As a result of the collision, the victim was fatally injured.
From the evidence presented to the Court, it was found that the accused driver was moving at a low speed (30 km/h), stopped his vehicle a few meters after the scene of the collision and was driving on a road without lighting, without signage and without markings. The victim's motorcycle, moving with one wheel raised, was not visible.
"The criminal responsibility of the accused lies in the fact that he mistakenly approved that he was within his lane, when in fact he had entered by 0.95 million in the opposite direction," the decision notes, stressing that the accused is well aware of the road, which he uses every day, since his residence is nearby.
"The circumstances of the accident and the nature of the negligence of the accused demonstrate that it is a minor degree of negligence, which is also reflected in the fact that he did not face a charge based on Article 210 of the Criminal Code," the decision underlines.
When determining the sentence, account was taken of his admission, his clean criminal record, his professional status as a driver, the absence of penalty points in his license and the fact that, at 38 years old, he otherwise has an impeccable driving experience. Also, the shared responsibility of the victim, who was driving on a "wheelie", drastically reducing his visibility, was taken into account. In addition, the personal and family data of the accused were evaluated. Taking into account the particular circumstances of the accident, the Court imposed a fine of €3,000 and 4 penalty points.
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The "trial" of the 2 Greek Cypriots continued on Thursday in the "district court" of Trikomos, who are accused under the pretext of violating personal data, with the testimony of prosecution witnesses.
During today's proceedings, three witnesses from the "prosecution" testified. The first witness was an "official" of the "land registry", who had been "arrested" in the previous period. The "official" in question stated that he has known the Turkish Cypriot real estate agent, who was also "arrested", for years, as he was a friend of his father. He claimed that the real estate agent asked him from time to time for information, which he provided, claiming, however, that he did not know the purpose of its use and that his actions were not illegal.
The second witness was an employee of a telecommunications company, who submitted to the "court" records of telephone calls relating to the period from January 1, 2020 to July 22, 2025. The purpose of submitting these data as evidence was to demonstrate the telephone communication between the real estate agent and the "operator" of the "land registry".
The third witness was a member of the "police" from the crime scene investigation team. As part of his testimony, long-form audiovisual material was shown, which was taken at the end of July 2025. In the video, the Greek Cypriot accused is said to be recorded explaining the content of a file that was received as evidence, noting that some documents did not belong to her. In addition, according to what was discussed, it was found that a question posed by the Greek Cypriot woman in Greek during the examination of the file, regarding whether her lawyer should be present, was not translated into Turkish by the interpreter.
CCTV footage was also shown in the "court" showing the entry and exit of five Greek Cypriots in tourist and residential complexes in Boghazi, on July 19.
The proceedings were postponed and set to resume on 17 and 18 December 2025.
