A 26-YEAR-old diver from the Famagusta district was yesterday jailed for three years for the vicious assault against a British woman who was abandoned bleeding and half naked outside Ayia Napa in September.
The permanent Assizes Court, convening in Larnaca, said the defendant’s behaviour had been “brutal and unprecedented” and indicated complete disregard of other peoples’ basic rights, to the extent of barbarism.
The court heard that the 22-year-old tourist from Lancashire had arrived on the island for two weeks on September 15.
She was staying in an Ayia Napa hotel with a friend and on the next night took part in a pub-crawl organised by a tour operator.
At 1.30am, the woman, who had had a lot to drink, found herself in the same nightclub with defendant Zinonas Mastrou from the village of Liopetri. According to testimony, they left the club together at 4am.
The court was told that Mastrou and the tourist got into his car and left the area.
At 11.30am the next morning, the 22-year-old was found beaten and naked from the waist down in the yard of a holiday home on the secluded Ayia Thekla coast.
She needed emergency surgery and spent several days in hospital after her ordeal, which doctors said could have killed her had her injuries remained unattended for much longer.
The court heard that the defendant had thought the woman was willing to have sex with him, but when he realised that she was not, he hit her, inflicting injuries on various parts of her body.
The extent of the injuries, as described in testimonies and confirmed by photographs clearly indicated the ferocity of the assault, the court said.
The court added that the grievous harm inflicted to her rectum and anus, which doctors say will cause long-term suffering, ruled out the possibility that the defendant’s conduct had anything to do with amorous activities.
Yesterday’s sentencing came after Mastrou pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to the tourist.
Two other charges of abduction with intent to rape and casing grievous bodily harm with intent were dropped by the state prosecutor due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Grievous bodily harm carries a maximum sentence of seven years under Cypriot law.
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