Teenagers arrested on extortion charge

THREE teenagers from Limassol have been arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill a 15-year-old student if he failed to pay protection money, police said yesterday.

According to Limassol police, the three teenagers, an 18-year-old National Guard conscript, his 15-year-old girlfriend and a 17-year-old boy, all from Limassol, have been making threats against the life of a 15-year-old boy since the beginning of the year. Fearing for his life, the 15-year-old had given a total of £1,500 to the group.

To pay up, the boy was forced into taking money from the till at his mother’s shop.
The boy did not go to police earlier, because he was afraid, police said. However, his parents recently realised that the money was missing and when they confronted their son, he told them that he had been taking money from them to give to the gang.

On Monday the boy and his mother finally went to police and reported the case.

“Limassol CID received a visit by a 15-year-old boy from Limassol and his mother, who said that since the beginning of 2007, he had been receiving threats from three persons who were demanding various sums of money and threatening him that if he didn’t do it, they would harm him,” said a police spokesman.

Following their arrest on Tuesday, the group of three was questioned by police, who say they admitted to committing the crime. All three were formally charged and released pending trial.

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