The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld the appeal of the Attorney General of the Republic for the inadequacy of the sentence imposed by the Famagusta District Court in a fatal road accident that occurred on 04.05.22 in Ayia Napa with the victim being a 45-year-old Swedish citizen.
The victim was on holiday in Cyprus with her 5-year-old minor daughter. The unfortunate Swedish woman, while trying to cross Nissi Avenue in Ayia Napa on a controlled pedestrian crossing, was swept away by a passing Buggy type motor vehicle driven by the accused, an English national, aged 26 years old. The driver of the Buggy had initially collided with a vehicle waiting for the pedestrian to cross and then violently collided with the victim, ejecting him metres away. The accused driver fled the scene leaving the victim helpless.
The Famagusta Court had imposed a sentence of 12 months imprisonment and deprivation of the right to drive for 18 months.
The Attorney General of the Republic immediately instructed an appeal on grounds of inadequacy of sentence. The Supreme Court on 1 December 2022 upheld the appeal and increased the sentence to 2.5 years imprisonment sending the appropriate messages to society that defiant, selfish driving behaviours, which result in the taking of human lives, should be dealt with severely.
Senior Public Prosecutor Thanasis Papanikolaou appeared for the Attorney General in the Supreme Court.
(ΕΠ/ΣΧ)
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