Pafos Press 23 March 2026
The Police arrested eight people last night during nationwide checks, which were carried out through organized patrols in key points of urban areas.
As stated in the Police announcement, the arrests concern offenses such as, among others, illegal possession of drugs, illegal possession of property, driving under the influence of alcohol, and pending court fines.
566 vehicles were stopped for inspection and 688 persons riding in them were checked. The announcement notes that 351 complaints were made, concerning various traffic violations.
20 cases of traffic violations that are under investigation also emerged. As part of the police examinations, 18 vehicles were seized.
There were 12 complaints of driving under the influence of alcohol and five cases of driving under the influence of drugs, which arose after preliminary drug tests.
In total, 142 checks were carried out for driving under the influence of alcohol and 32 for driving under the influence of drugs.
In addition, 29 checks of premises were carried out, with the aim of addressing delinquency phenomena, from which three complaints arose.
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Filenews
An incredible incident took place in the early hours of the morning at a checkpoint for foot-and-mouth disease in Aradippou.
According to information from Filenews from the Police, around 1 in the morning, a police officer noticed an unknown person entering a patrol car and leaving the area. It is a van-type vehicle, which bears the Police signals, which was mobilized to strengthen the measures at the checkpoints for foot-and-mouth disease.
The policeman, according to what he said, noticed the stranger grabbing the vehicle and then entered his private vehicle, which was in the area and started chasing the stranger. After traveling a long distance and arriving in Larnaca, the stranger entered a dead end, abandoned the patrol car and escaped on foot.
The case began to be investigated by the Police, in search of the unknown man, who hijacked the patrol car, whose motives remain, so far, unknown. It is also being investigated under what circumstances the perpetrator snatched the patrol car and whether the keys were in the ignition, which at first glance seems to have been.
It is noted that according to information on our website, the police officer stated that he got out of the police vehicle for a while. He is a member of the police who serves in another service and was recruited in order to strengthen the ADE Larnaca, at the checkpoints for foot-and-mouth disease.
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The Police arrested two persons, aged 39 and 28, yesterday, to facilitate investigations into a theft case in the province of Paphos.
The case was reported to the Police, around 6.20 p.m. yesterday, by an employee of the company. According to the complainant, a short time earlier, unknown persons stole, from a fenced area, next to the Tsada - Stroumbi road, where the offices of a contracting company are located, an electric generator.
A few minutes later, members of the Police spotted a vehicle towing an electric generator on a road in the province of Paphos. The vehicle was stopped for inspection, during which it was found that it was driven by a 39-year-old man, who had a 28-year-old passenger as a passenger.
The two men did not give satisfactory explanations as to how the electric generator was found in their possession, as a result of which they were arrested for the self-inflicted crime of illegal possession of property. From subsequent examinations, it was found that the specific electric generator is the one stolen from the above company.
Further examinations also revealed that the 39-year-old was driving the vehicle in question, without holding a driver's license, without insurance and fitness certificates and without a valid registration certificate, while the vehicle has been deleted since October 2025.
The Stroumbi Police Station continues the examinations.
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Around 3.20 in the morning today, there was an explosion in a banquet center, in the province of Nicosia.
The scene was visited for examinations by members of the Police, including members of the Pyrotechnics Branch.
From the preliminary examinations at the scene, it was determined that the explosion was due to a bomb that detonated and exploded, causing damage to the glass front of the premises.
The stage was cordoned off to continue the tests this morning.
The TAE of Nicosia is investigating the case.
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The Police proceeded to arrest the 39-year-old driver of the car, who was involved in the fatal road collision that occurred last Thursday, March 19, in the province of Nicosia, in which Hosh Mustafa, 15, lost his life, who during the collision, was moving on the road on a motorcycle he was driving.
The 39-year-old was arrested around 6.00 last night, by members of the Nicosia Traffic Police, pursuant to a court warrant, issued after further examinations and testimony obtained, in the context of the investigation of the fatal road collision.
The fatal road collision happened around 9.15 pm on March 19, on Ifigenias Avenue in Strovolos, where under circumstances that are being investigated, the motorcycle driven by the 15-year-old, with a 17-year-old passenger, collided with the car driven by the 39-year-old. The motorcycle then collided with a parked car.
The scene was visited by members of the Police, while the 15-year-old and 17-year-old were transported by ambulance to the Nicosia General Hospital, where the 15-year-old succumbed to his injuries. The 17-year-old was detained for treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, where he is still being treated.
The Nicosia Traffic Department continues the examinations.
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A bell was stolen from a small chapel of Agios Georgios in the "Germanina" area in Geroskipou, according to a complaint made to the Police on March 19, 2026.
According to the information, the bell was a donation made to the church 25 years ago.
The donor was the one who contacted the authorities to report the theft, while appealing to whoever removed it to return it to the chapel.
At the same time, he called on anyone who knows anything that could help locate the bell to contact either the Municipality of Geroskipou or the Police.
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A fire broke out yesterday morning in an indoor, private swimming area in Latsia, with the call received at 10:00.
The Nicosia Fire Stations responded to the scene with two vehicles, bringing the fire under control at 10:55. Two outbreaks were found inside the area, as a result of which part of the equipment and wooden furniture were affected. The building, which has been deemed to be demolished, suffered further damage.
The first estimates of the fire brigade indicate that the fire appears to have been maliciously caused by unknown persons.
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A change of data was recorded today in the horrific case of abuse of four children accused father and mother in Larnaca. Despite the fact that last December the two defendants had pleaded guilty to dozens of the very serious charges they were facing, they changed their answer to "non-admission", with the representative of the Prosecution Authority reinstating all the charges that were originally in the indictment. In essence, due to their admission, about half of the accusations, which were repeated, had been removed. Now the defendants face 121 charges.
The two defendants changed lawyers for the third time and at the last hearing, which was last Friday, they said that they want to withdraw their previous statement. Given this, the trial is expected to be long, since a hearing must be held, the start of which has been set for May 19, 2026. The main witnesses in the trial will be the four children.
It is noted that the process is carried out behind closed doors, for the protection of the children, two of whom are minors. It is recalled that in the trial last December, the two pleaded guilty, among other things, to charges of exploitation at work, causing mental harm and assault causing actual bodily harm. In addition, the 48-year-old also pleaded guilty to the charge of sexually abusing one of the girls, whose stepfather he is. The two continue to remain in custody, with the charges they face carrying up to life in prison.
Father and mother were arrested in March 2025 by the special unit for violence in the family of TAE Larnaca and their trial began last May. The case, which caused shock, was revealed when one of the children of the family confided in his school what he had been experiencing horribly with his siblings in recent years. So the procedures were initiated and statements were taken from the children, some of whom are now adults.
Among those reported is that the 48-year-old forced four of the five children of the family to work in fields and livestock farms, while some of them complained that at regular intervals he beat and abused them brutally, in ways that cannot fit the human mind and for obvious reasons are not mentioned. Allegations of abuse were also made against the mother. One girl, moreover, as mentioned above, also reported sexual abuse by the 48-year-old. As it was established, the family lived, under miserable conditions, in shacks, among the livestock premises, which were consumed by fire a few days after the revelation of the case.
One of the most shocking aspects of the case is the fact that some of the charges relate to 2009 (not for all the children), with the case being uncovered 16 whole years later.
The case had caused a storm of reactions, since the Social Welfare Services monitored the family and knew for years about the living conditions of the five children.
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The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by a hotel company and upheld the first instance decision that ruled the dismissal of an employee illegal, while awarding costs of €2,400 plus VAT in favour of the respondent.
The case concerns the dismissal of an employee, who was employed as a night receptionist from 2003 to 2012, when the employer company terminated his services on the grounds that he was sleeping while working. The Labour Court had already ruled in 2019 that the dismissal was illegal, finding that the employer did not sufficiently prove his claim nor acted as a "reasonable employer", as required by law.
In the appeal, the company argued that the court of first instance misinterpreted legal principles and ignored evidence, including letters that, according to it, constituted a warning to the employee. The Court of Appeal, however, ruled that the relevant ground was unfounded, pointing out that the court of first instance had rejected as unreliable the position that the employee slept on his shift. Therefore, the reports of warnings were deemed irrelevant, since they were based on facts that were not accepted.
Regarding the second ground of appeal, with which the company argued that the employee had essentially admitted his behaviour through a letter, the Court of Appeal disagreed. It considered that the content of the letter constituted a total denial of the allegations, clarifying that the employee's reference to "relaxation" does not amount to an admission of sleep at work. At the same time, he noted that the company's attempt to introduce a new reason for dismissal after the fact, such as "relaxation", is legally unacceptable, as the legality of the dismissal is judged on the basis of the reasons invoked by the employer at the time of the decision.
The Court also examined the allegation of infringement of the right to have the case heard within a reasonable time, given that the proceedings before the court of first instance lasted almost seven years. Although it acknowledged that this duration is long for a relatively simple labour dispute, it concluded that there was no violation of the right to a fair trial, as the appellants did not prove that they suffered specific harm due to the delay.
In the decision, the Court of Appeal underlined that in cases of labour disputes, where the employee's livelihood is at stake, a speedy administration of justice is required. However, he reiterated that delay does not automatically lead to a violation of rights unless a substantial impact on the case is demonstrated.
In conclusion, the Court ruled that all the grounds of appeal were unfounded and fully upheld the first-instance judgment, confirming that the employee's dismissal was unlawful and that he was entitled to the relevant compensation.
