A NICOSIA man was yesterday found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol when he ran over and killed a pupil in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Giorgos Mavrikios had been standing next to a car parked on the pavement on Strovolos Avenue in Tseri at around 3.20am on January 1 with his girlfriend, Agathi Tryfonos, also 17, when a white Mercedes careened into them and drove off.
Driver, Savvas Savva, 28 from Tseri, has pleaded guilty to causing death by negligent driving and abandoning the scene of the accident.
He pleaded not guilty to drink driving, despite twice failing an breathalyser later that morning.
Yesterday, Judge Alexia Lycourgou accused Savva of lying to the court saying that his excuse that he wasn’t drunk and couldn’t remember anything “simply defies all logic”.
Earlier in the trial, the 28-year-old electrician said he was working on New Year’s Eve until 11pm that night and had gone to his mother’s house for soup because he was feeling a little bit ill. He also claimed to have had a glass of wine.
He then said that he then decided to go to a pub because he didn’t have anyone to spend New Year’s with.
“At the pub, I watched television with the owner and ordered a quarter bottle of whiskey,” he had told the court.
“I ordered a second quarter bottle of whisky but I only drank one glass from it because I felt ill and decided to leave…On the way home, I could hardly keep my eyes open…I remember hitting what I thought was a side railing on the way home but since my car was the only thing damaged I continued my course and drove home.”
A police investigator had also told the court that they went to Savva’s house later that morning and found him sleeping. They then breathalysed him at his home and found that he had 74mg of alcohol in his blood.
A second blood alcohol test taken later at the station revealed a reading of 44mg.
The legal alcohol limit in Cyprus is 22mg.
“The common sense and elementary factors of what happened makes the version of the defendant’s story unsubstantiated,” said Judge Lycourgou.
“The defendant’s stance, which has exposed his incredibility, has led the court to the conclusion that the defendant came to the court not to tell the truth but to rid the charges against him.”
The court proceedings continue on July 24 with Savva’s defence lawyer set to make his final plea for mitigation on behalf of his client.
The judge will then set another court date for sentencing.
Savva could face up to three years’ imprisonment.
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