British soldier killed in head-on collision

A 36-YEAR-OLD British permanent resident David Anthony Jones was killed by a pensioner, who tested more than double the permitted alcohol limit in his blood, in a road traffic accident in Paphos on Sunday lunchtime.

Jones, who was serving at the army base of Akrotiri, was fatally injured when the high-powered racing motorbike he was driving was involved in a head on collision with a pick-up truck.

The accident took place on the Mesoyi to Tsada road. The 76-year-old truck driver had more than 40 years experience as a bus driver, but was found to have an alcohol level of 43mg in his blood. The legal limit is 22 mg. Police arrested him at the scene.

Police say the unlucky motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet was travelling down from Tsada village on the main road towards Mesoyi, when under circumstances being investigated, he was involved in a head on collision with the pensioner.

Both the car and the bike were found on the right-hand side of the road leading from Mesoyi to Tsada. Both the vehicle and the motorcycle had smashed into the protective barrier, and the bike was left a mangled heap of metal.

Jones was thrown from the cycle over a stone wall and landed in a field where he sustained multiple injuries. He was rushed to Paphos general hospital, but was declared dead by doctors, who said bones in his arms and legs had been badly damaged.

The 76-year-old Cypriot drunk driver has a driving licence, which expires in October.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.