Man has theft conviction overturned by Supreme Court

A SUPREME Court has overturned a Paphos District Court decision against a man found guilty of being in possession of stolen goods.

On January 19 this year, the appellant, Tzionis Karipides, was found guilty by the court in Paphos of being in possession of stolen items, namely a video, a drill, a water heater, a bathroom sink, a tool set as well as other similar bathroom and electronic appliances.

The judge had ordered Karipides to pay a fine of £422.

According to Karipides’ defence lawyer, the judge had wrongfully ruled that there was reasonable suspicion against his client because some of the items found in his possession were in fact proven not to have been stolen.

Although the judge concurred that specific notion, the court still found Karipides guilty of being in illegal possession of the other items because the investigator had said that “there was reasonable suspicion that they were stolen”.

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Judges Christos Artemides, Minos Kronides and Takis Eliades had agreed with the defence lawyer that the judge had wrongfully convicted Karipides.

“It is the role of the court to be convinced that there is reasonable and not anybody else in the trial,” read a Supreme Court decision.

“Taking into account what was conducted in the trial, the court appeared to state that because the investigators had reasonable suspicion then it was feasible to assume that a crime had indeed been committed.”

The decision added, “That position by the court, which led to the conviction of the appellant, is legally incorrect.”

The judges then exonerated Karipides of his conviction adding that the fine against him be cancelled.

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