Grieving relatives of man murdered for €540 disrupt court hearing

TENSIONS flared at the Nicosia district court yesterday at a trial concerning the brutal killing of a 23-year-old student.

Defendant Andreas Spyrou, 21, pleaded not guilty to the charge of the premeditated murder of Stavros Georgiou on October 23rd.

Black-clad relatives and friends of the victim erupted in anger when the defendant took the stand and entered a plea of not guilty. They began shouting and jeering Spyrou, who had to be whisked out of the courtroom by police.

The defendant’s lawyer said later his client would admit to the charge of manslaughter, not premeditated murder.

In a statement to police, Spyrou had confessed to stabbing the victim and dumping the body in the middle of a busy road in the Dhali Industrial Estate.

The body was found a day later by passersby.

The subsequent autopsy revealed that Spyrou had been stabbed 21 times.

It emerged that the crime was committed over a dispute for €540 the victim owed to the defendant.

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