By Charlie Charalambous
TWO Cypriots, one Greek and the other Turkish, have been charged in the UK in connection with the murder in London two years ago of a black musician in what is thought to have been a racist attack.
The 26-year-old Greek Cypriot from North London was charged with murder, while the Turkish Cypriot, aged 50, was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
London Cypriot Charalambos Constantinou, from Edmonton, is one of three men charged in connection with the murder of former pop-singer Michael Menson.
During a 20-minute hearing last Saturday, defence lawyers for Constantinou “absolutely denied that their client played any part in the appalling murder”.
Charged alongside him was 50-year-old Turkish Cypriot Husseyin Abdullah, also from Edmonton.
Fellow north London resident, unemployed 25-year-old Mario Pereira, whose parents are from Mauritius, was charged with Menson’s murder at a previous court hearing last Friday.
All three will appear before an Enfield magistrates court again on Thursday.
Menson, 29, was set on fire with lighter fuel in a north London phone box early in 1997. He died two weeks later of horrific burns.
The murder charge follows a long campaign by the Menson family for a fresh investigation into the case, after police initially argued that Menson, who had a record of mental illness, had set fire to himself.
The attack was only recorded by police as a racially motivated murder approximately one year after it occurred.
Strong parallels have been drawn between the police’s unwillingness to investigate the Menson case and their failure to convict the alleged white killers of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Lawrence was stabbed at a southeast London bus stop six years ago.
A recent public inquiry condemned the police for making a series of errors and ignoring evidence, partly due to the racist attitudes of investigating officers.
The son of a Ghanaian diplomat, Menson was born in Moscow and lived in several countries.
At a young age he showed an exceptional talent for music and secured his first recording contract at 18.
His band, Double Trouble, made several top ten hits in the UK charts, appeared on Top of the Pops, and toured Europe before splitting up in 1993.
