Teens face murder charges in Sydney after Cypriot stabbed

Two teen boys are facing murder charges in Sydney, Australia after a Cypriot man was stabbed to death in his home on Sunday, according to reports.

Kevin Kourtis, 39, was stabbed to death by a group of five boys that broke into his home on Sunday.

Australian media reported Kourtis moved to Sydney eight years ago and on the night of murder he was home with a friend, watching a movie.

The group reportedly broke into the house and stabbed Kourtis to death and lightly injured the friend, who was treated the scene.

Two of the boys, 16 and 17, were arrested on Sunday in Sydney, while the others escaped in a car.

The boys appeared in children’s court on Monday, where they were remanded and denied bail.

Police are continuing their investigation for the other suspects, and are looking into any possible connection between the boys and Kourtis.

“One of the lines that we are pursuing [is] that it was a targeted attack or that the offenders were known to the deceased or the deceased knew the offenders,” Superintendent Jenny Scholz said on Sunday.

“Kevin had a kind heart and never deserved such a tragic ending to his life,” Kourtis’ cousin Jodie Kourtis wrote on Facebook.

The family are now raising money to repatriate Kourtis’ body to Cyprus, where his mother still lives.

 

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.