Shop owner held on suspicion of burning his own premises

THE OWNER of a sign-writer’s shop outside Larnaca was yesterday remanded in custody on suspicion of burning down his own premises.

Larnaca District court heard that 45-year-old Loutsios Loutsiou, from Livadhia outside Larnaca, had set fire to his workshop on Sunday night in order to claim insurance money.

Case investigator Andreas Georgiou said Loutsiou had run up a debt of £40, 000 over the last eight years and last October insured his business against fire for £67,500.

Georgiou added that police had found evidence that Sunday’s fire at Loutsiou’s premises had been started deliberately, using petrol. The blaze caused an estimated £65,000 worth of damage.

A pair of petrol-stained plastic trousers had later been found in the suspect’s car, the court heard. The door of the workshop had not been violated, suggesting the arsonist or arsonists had a key, Georgiou said.

Georgiou also said police had a witness statement that Loutsiou had approached a man and offered to pay him to set fire to a field of crops next to his workshop. But Loutsiou’s lawyer, Evgenios Erotokritou, told the court the police witness had threatened to burn down his client’s business just one week before the fire.

Erotokritou also said his client had a heart condition and might be put at risk if remanded to custody in a police cell.

Police asked for a six-day remand and the court granted three days, adding that the suspect should be given all the medical care his condition demanded.