Riddington to remain in custody until trial

 

Turkish Cypriot newspaper Havadis on Friday reported that Charles Edward Riddington, wanted in the UK for murder, will remain in custody until his trial in less than a month.

The decision was taken by a judge when he appeared before the court in the north on Thursday after a three-day remand.

In the meantime, the paper said, Interpol has sent a set of fingerprints which match those taken from the suspect by police in the north after his arrest on Monday.

Riddington, who is wanted for the murder of 24-year-old George Barker in 2016, was caught in Trikomo using a fake passport and arrested at Interpol’s request.

Turkish Cypriot police officer Mehmet Bayir explained that the suspect travelled with a Namibian passport carrying the number P07989839 under the name of Ricky De Bruin, arriving at Tymbou (Ercan) airport on December 26, 2017 and left, and that he entered the north several times with the fake travel document in 2018 before being caught.

According to Bayir, Riddington has confessed to the crime he committed.

A large sum of money was found in his home, Havadis said, which he said came from abroad as he has not worked in Cyprus.

George Barker was fatally stabbed in November 2016. The 24-year-old from Kent was killed at Double K gym in Bexley, south-east London. His mother Julie said he had become a father only five days before he died.

Following the murder, Riddington reportedly travelled to many countries using fake names and passports before coming to Cyprus.

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.