Bank robber jailed for seven years

A 27-year-old man was yesterday sentenced to seven years in prison for the armed robbery of a Limassol bank.

Petros Petrou was arrested last month after a lone gunman robbed a Bank of Cyprus branch in Polemidia and made off with £28,000.

Only £25,000 have been found.

The court said it took into consideration the defendant’s poor health and the fact that he confessed and co-operated with the authorities.

The bank was robbed on June 29 by a gunman wearing a motorcycle crash helmet.

Shortly after the robbery, police located the car used by the thief, burning in a field in Ypsonas.

Forensics experts found a bullet hole in the car as well as a trail of blood leading to a nearby house found with a broken window.

Petrou was arrested after doctors in the Limassol hospital emergency room told police a man had sought treatment for a gunshot wound in his hand and glass cuts in several parts of his body.

Petrou, who had apparently shot himself by accident while trying to get away, initially denied any involvement in the robbery but later changed his story and led police to the place he had hidden the loot.

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.