British woman’s kidnap case adjourned

A BRITISH woman, who has been held in custody since November, appeared at Paphos court yesterday facing kidnap charges after she took her son to the UK.

The woman who is also facing charges of hiring a hit man to kill her estranged husband, was told the kidnap case was adjourned due to a two year backlog.

According to British UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew, who came to Cyprus this week to help the accused woman, Sarah Antoniou, 38, she may have to wait some time before the kidnap case is brought back to court.

“Apparently alleged crimes are being committed faster in Cyprus than the authorities can process. There is a back up of cases dating back to 2008 and so Sarah’s case was adjourned,” said Agnew yesterday.

The previous day, Agnew had visited Antoniou at the Nicosia Central Prisons he voiced concerned for her mental and physical health.  “The allegations of attempted murder are very serious and she is being held on the most flimsy of evidence,” he said.

Later yesterday the MEP travelled to Nicosia to meet with the Attorney-general Petros Clerides to ensure that the British woman would be given a fair trial when it came to the alleged attempt on her husband’s life.

Speaking after the meeting, which was attended by the lawyers for the prosecution and the defence, Agnew said it had been very positive.

“The Attorney-general gave assurances that Sarah would receive a fair trial and underlined the fact that she has the same rights as a Cypriot national in these matters,” said  Agnew.

The MEP said Attorney-general Clerides had been “courteous and helpful.”

“We discussed the general aspects of the case without getting into specifics,” he said.“Sarah’s defence lawyer will be sending a proposal to Mr. Clerides regarding the case. I am hopeful for a positive outcome.”

The alleged attempted murder hearing gets underway at the Paphos court on Monday.



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.