UK man caught for rape and murder of British Cypriot teen 34 years ago

A 56-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested in the UK for the rape and murder of a Greek Cypriot schoolgirl 34 years ago in London after a DNA match was found on the national database, according to the Press Association.

The body of Yiannoulla Yianni, 17, was found by her parents at their home in north London in 1982 after she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Despite repeated public appeals in the decades since no arrests had been made until Tuesday, PA reported.

Detective Inspector Julie Willats told the agency: “Yiannoulla’s family – who understandably are still devastated by the loss of their beloved daughter and sister more than three decades ago – have been fully informed of this new development.”

The 56-year-old was arrested over an unrelated allegation of possesion of indecent images, and his DNA matched samples linked to the 1982 investigation.

On the day she died, Friday August 13, 1982, Yiannoulla had spent the morning at home with her mother, and at around 12.30pm they walked together to the family’s shop nearby to take the teenager’s father some lunch, the report said.

At 1.30pm she returned home alone to prepare dinner while her mother stayed at the shop. When her parents returned home at around 3pm they found her dead, it added.

Over the years since her death more than 1,000 witness statements have been taken, a series of public appeals for information have been made and a reward offered.

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.