Were crash tourists stoned or not?

By Andrew Adamides

BRITISH tourist Danny Smith, 23, may or may not have been stoned when he crashed his car at around 4.15 am yesterday — at least that’s what he told police.

Smith, and his roommate, David Curry, also 23, were both remanded in custody for five days by Famagusta district court yesterday on charges of possessing drugs.

When police arrived on the scene of the Ayia Napa crash, which involved Smith and two other tourists, they suspected him of being drunk and gave him an alcotest. However, when this proved negative, they suspected that he might be under the influence of drugs and asked him if he had taken illegal substances, to which Smith replied “Maybe yes and maybe no.”

A search of Smith’s luggage at his holiday apartment turned up five grams of cannabis, which Smith said were for personal use. When Curry arrived back at the apartment at 6am, his room was also searched, and a substance believed to be cannabis was found.

Both went willingly with police, who are investigating claims that the two bought the drugs locally. Smith claimed he bought his from a foreign person who he would recognise if he saw again, while Curry told police he obtained his drugs from a female tourist he met after arrival on the island.

Smith and Curry arrived on the island on July 20, and were set to leave on August 11.

Meanwhile yesterday, two men were jailed for two years each for importing drugs with intent to sell.

Judge Tefkros Economou sentenced Elias Pericles Panyiotarides, 33, a florist from Greece, and Zenonos Theofanous, 26, a builder from Nicosia after the two were found guilty of bringing two kilos of cannabis into the country in 1998. The drugs were found in their possession at Larnaca Airport, and the duo admitted that they had intended to sell the drugs locally. Others are also thought to be involved in the case.