A MAN who stalked and harassed his ex-girlfriend and assaulting her new boyfriend was yesterday jailed for two years by a Nicosia District Court.
The defendant had been charged with six counts of assault, harassment and causing grievous bodily harm.
According to police, the 30-year-old man from Limassol had had a relationship with the victim for three years before she broke up and moved out.
Enraged, the defendant refused to accept that his girlfriend no longer wanted him.
The first incident occurred in June 2005 when the defendant waited for his ex-girlfriend outside her house one morning. As she opened her front door, the defendant – wearing a balaclava – stormed into the house and threw the victim on the couch.
His disguise was foiled, however, because, according to the victim, the defendant was wearing shorts and she recognised the scar on his leg.
He then dragged his ex-girlfriend upstairs and into her bedroom before throwing her on the bed. He then took off her trousers and underwear telling her “Now we will see if you have done something with him or not” – referring to whether she had slept with the man he knew that she had recently started seeing.
The crying woman begged for the defendant to stop and he finally left the house before telling her that he would harm if she ever reported the incident to anyone.
Still shaken, the woman then went to work and later told the incident to her new boyfriend, who happens to be a policeman.
But that wasn’t the end of the woman’s ordeal.
On the night of June 30, just a few days after the first incident, the woman and her new boyfriend went to a bar in Nicosia with some friends.
The former boyfriend was also at the bar.
Furious at seeing the two together, the defendant charged towards the couple as they were leaving and attacked the boyfriend.
The man fell to the ground but the defendant continued to punch and kick him.
The 30-year-old eventually ran off when some people ran towards him from the pub.
He was arrested later that night.
The injured boyfriend was taken to Nicosia General Hospital where he was kept under observation for two days.
According to a report from the Welfare Department, the 30-year-old suffers from “psychological problems”, a condition which led to his dismissal from the National Guard.
He has also been deemed unfit to work and received money from the state.
His defence lawyer had pleaded with the court to show leniency towards his client “who committed the offences out of passion and love”.
But passing sentence yesterday, Judge Angelos David said the defendant “had acted irresponsibly and deplorably”.
The judge added that despite taking into account his medical condition, the charges were so seriousl that the court had no choice but to impose a prison sentence.
