Remand for Kitas brother and nephew

A FATHER and son arrested in Larnaca on suspicion of conspiring to commit a crime after they were found in possession of an illegal firearm were yesterday remanded in custody for eight days.

The duo, who are the brother and nephew of convicted double rapist and murderer Antonis Prokopiou Kitas, was arrested on Thursday morning near the Larnaca-Dhekelia coast on the edge of Pyla village.

Larnaca district judge Stalo Kizi heard that Mamas Prokopiou, 47, and his 25-year-old son Prokopis were under investigation on suspicion of conspiring to commit a crime after they were found with an illegal ‘Pietro Beretta’ pistol in their possession. The older man was also charged with assaulting a Larnaca Crime Prevention Unit (CPU) officer and attempting to escape custody.

The incident took place near an abandoned hotel on the edge of Pyla. The duo was stopped and searched following suspicions that they were in the area with the intention of committing a crime, a CID officer told the court. Mamas arrived on the scene from Dhekelia on a bicycle while his son came by car from Larnaca to collect his father. The former then placed two or three bags containing clothes into his son’s car, including a towel and the weapon. The investigator did not tell the court what authorities thought the pair had been planning, however he did mention that Mamas had attacked the arresting CPU officer and had tried to escape but was caught 150 metres away. The court also heard that the 47-year-old managed to throw the gun into the yard of the abandoned hotel in which the towel and Beretta pistol was found without cartridges and registration number. The gun has since been sent to police headquarters for ballistic testing, the court heard.

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