Four to face charges in connection with shooting of American

FOUR men questioned in connection with the attempted murder of an American resident in Cyprus last week will face trial on September 30 on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime.

Nicosia District Court announced the trial date for Demetris Hadjiconstantis, Stavros Pavlou, Demetris Araouzos and George Pattichis yesterday. According to police, all four have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime while Hadjiconstantis, Pavlou and Araouzos have also been charged with covering up a crime.

The four were released on bail until the trial. Each suspect signed a £10,000 bail bond and submitted their travel documents. Their names have been put on the stop list at exit points from the Republic, while all four will have to report to a police station twice a week.

The charges against the four came up during questioning on the case of attempted murder of 56-year-old Gary White, who was shot and injured to the eye as he drove out of his driveway in Engomi, Nicosia, on April 29.

The man, a teacher at a private school in Larnaca, is married to a Greek Cypriot. He had been on his way to work when he was shot at 6am by a gunman on a bicycle. His injury was not serious.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, police are still searching for the gunman, who is described as about 1.8 metres tall, was wearing black clothes and sunglasses at the time of the attack and riding a black and yellow bicycle.

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.