Tourists fined for nude swim

FOUR ENGLISH tourists were yesterday fined £25 each by a Larnaca court for swimming naked in their hotel pool at 5am.

Bank clerks David Baldwinson, 22, from Plumstead and Andi Costi, 20, from Woolwich along with electricians James Murphy, 19, from Bexley, Kent and Edward Stitson, 19, from Pembury in Kent were caught skinny dipping in Ayia Napa by eagle-eyed police on Monday.

The four were arrested and questioned for several hours on Monday, and in court yesterday pleaded guilty to carrying out an indecent act by exposing themselves in a public place.

Judge Tefkros Economou seemed to take the case lightly, when examining the charges.

“Okay, but does baring one’s chest constitute an indecent act?” Economou wondered.

Police prosecutor Nicos Demetriou assured the judge that they were wearing nothing below the waist as well.

“The facts I have before me suggest it was more than just bare chests,” said Demetriou.

The judge said the case was not serious enough to impose a custodial sentence, as there had been no children around at the time, nor anyone else for that matter.

The four said they were relieved to get away with a small fine and promised to cover themselves up in future.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.