Gangland hit-man does a runner from Limassol courthouse

By Charlie Charalambous

POLICEMEN yesterday found themselves chasing a gangland criminal across city streets after he did a runner from Limassol court.

Police shouts for “help” could be heard above the clatter of lawyers and clerks going about their business when Christakis Charalambous fled the courthouse after a guilty verdict.

Seconds before he fled Charalambous was heard shouting “I’m innocent, I’m innocent!” to the three-bench Criminal court.

“During the break he was being led out of the court when he escaped and ran out into the streets, but we got him later,” a police spokesman told the Cyprus Mail.

There were red faces all round when Charalambous — who had just been found guilty of attempted murder in a suspected gangland hit — slipped through the fingers of the police’s crack anti-terrorist unit.

As the 35-year-old was being led away to the court canteen during a brief recess, he made his dash for freedom before police officers could handcuff him.

Eyewitnesses said they saw Charalambous race out of the court, across the grounds and out into the street as police officers gave desperate chase.

To ensure the attempted murderer was brought back to justice as soon as possible a reported 20 patrol cars were involved in the ensuing manhunt.

Eventually the man was recaptured after managing to spend just 20 breathless minutes of freedom on the streets of Limassol. He was found some 400 metres away from the court building.

Charalambous was found guilty of attempting to murder cabaret owner Evangelos Christodoulou, 35, who was shot twice outside his club in Heroes Square in Limassol last August 22.

He was spotted at the scene soon after the shooting.

Because of yesterday’s unforseen delay the court delayed sentencing the accused until today.

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.