Bomb victim remanded by his hospital bed

THE 40-year-old man from Nikitari who was seriously injured after a car bomb exploded while he was inside the vehicle was remanded in custody for five days by the Nicosia District Court on Sunday, from his hospital bedside.

Petros Patsalides suffered multiple injuries to his back and legs from an explosion that went off in his car last Friday while he was sitting in the vehicle talking to someone outside a restaurant in Kakopetria. A 53-year-old customer of the restaurant was also mildly injured during the explosion.

Police initially considered the possibility of a murder attempt, but then turned their focus on the likelihood of Patsalides having transported the bomb himself. The bomb’s fuse was not burnt, leading investigators to believe that the device had not been detonated by a third party. Apart from the explosive device, police found a pistol bullet, the empty magazine of a rifle and non-used fuse filaments in his car.

Police asked for an eight-day remand, but the court, convening in Nicosia general hospital, issued a five-day remand in connection with charges of illegal possession and transportation of explosive materials.

This is not the first time Patsalides brushes with law enforcement agencies. In 2002, he was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment for escaping police custody during a shooting investigation.

He had been arrested after a drive-by shooting outside Nicosia’s Dow Jones disco left two women injured. As he was leading police to a weapons cache in old Nicosia, Patsalides pulled a runner, embarrassing police for 18 days before finally turning himself in to a Sigma TV reporter.

His girlfriend who was the likely target of the club attack had a change of heart after his arrest and decided not to press charges. The charges of shooting with intent to kill and illegal arms possession were subsequently dropped. Patsalides was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment for escaping police custody though, during which time he married his then girlfriend at a civil ceremony in the Nicosia central prisons. Three months later he was out and has since been living and working in the Kakopetria area, according to reports.

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