Soldiers face jail for theft and damage

THREE British soldiers will be sentenced next week for a burglary spree and trashing the accounts office of a Larnaca hotel, their lawyer said yesterday.

The three members of the Kings Regiment stationed at Dhekelia face imprisonment by law for the charges against them.

“My plea to the judge is to give suspended sentences,” lawyer John Mylonas told Reuters news agency. He said the court will sentence the three on Tuesday.

Carl Townes and Phillip Hughes, both 19, have pleaded guilty to charges of causing criminal damage to a hotel near Dhekelia on November 16. Both were drunk at the time.

They had been absent without leave from their regiment for more than a month at the time of their arrest, British military authorities said.

A third defendant, Keith Hollywood, 23, has pleaded guilty to involvement in a spate of burglaries in the Famagusta district earlier in the year when items worth some £17,000 were stolen.

Paul Walsh, another soldier wanted in connection with the burglaries, is still being sought.

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