A 67-YEAR-old woman was yesterday fined £350 for mugging a man of 68 after luring him into her garden.
Latsia resident and taverna owner Maroulla Solomonidou pleaded guilty to charges of assault and theft against 68-year-old Charalambos Stavrou.
Solomonidou stood in the dock wearing a thick blue coat and listened as Constable Christos Chrysanthou of Nicosia CID gave an account of the attack.
“On April 25 last year, Charalambos Stavrou came to Nicosia CID and reported to us that he had been mugged by a woman who took £200 from his pockets. We later located the woman after Stavrou pointed her out to us. Along with another officer, I approached her and she told us ‘I’ll give you £200 but I didn’t steal it of the old man’.”
The constable added that a few days later a taxi driver had delivered £200 to Nicosia CID, adding that he had been given the money by Solomonidou to deliver to the officer investigating the case. The officers later moved in and arrested her, to which she replied: “Do you have to arrest me, I just gave you back the money.”
A confession at police headquarters soon followed, with Solomonidou telling officers that she “jumped the old man and stole his money after she had lured him back to her garden for a cuddle.”
After Solomonidou had admitted to the charges in court, Judge Angelos David, slightly bemused by the whole hearing, told her: “Ms Solomonidou, what are we to do here? We can’t very well go around jumping on old men now can we?”
“I know you honour and I would like to say that I am very sorry and that I won’t do it again,” she replied.
At this stage, an elderly man with a thick moustache, standing at the back of the court and wielding a walking stick intervened. He turned out to be the victim of the attack. “Excuse me your honour, I would like to just intervene on the proceedings and say that I am not an old man.”
The state prosecutor had previously told the court that Stavrou had dropped all charges against Solomonidou.
Stavrou again intervened later, telling the court: “Your honour, I would just like to say that it wasn’t £200 that was taken from as I initially thought, but £195. I forget to mention to the police that I had bought a lottery ticket, a sandwich and a packet of cigarettes on that day. I would like to give £5 back to her now if I may,” he said, putting his hand into his pocket.
“No, not now, you can sort that out later,” replied the smiling judge.
Judge David then handed out a £350 fine to Solomonidou, adding that she sign a £1,000 guarantee that should she break the law again in the next two years, then she would have to pay the £1,000 as well as the punishment she’d be given.
It was the victim, however, who would have the last word, telling the judge: “May I offer my thanks to you for being so fair and righteous.”
“You’re welcome,” replied Judge David still smiling.
