Magda sentencing postponed

SENTENCING of the 33-year-old wife of a murdered contractor was yesterday postponed for Thursday at the request of the defence, which said it was not ready to argue for mitigation.

Magda Eleftheriou was found guilty of manslaughter on Friday in connection with the murder of her husband Pavlos Christodoulou, 38, in July last year.

Her Pakistani lover Zeeshan Asgar, 22, and his 28-year-old Chinese roommate Yu Hong Bo were found guilty on premeditated murder and conspiracy charges and were jailed for life.

Christodoulou was beaten on the head and then burnt in the boot of his car.

Eleftheriou, who also faced premeditated murder and conspiracy charges, was in the end convicted of manslaughter, which carries a maximum life imprisonment.

Mitigation and sentencing was scheduled for yesterday morning but was postponed after defence lawyer Costas Efstathiou asked for more time to study the decision.

The courtroom was again packed with relatives of Christodoulou, including his mother who appeared in court last Friday when the decision was handed down.