Armed robbery suspects to face criminal trial

FOUR MEN suspected of armed robbery are to be charged this coming October at a Nicosia Criminal Court.

On August 16, three men wearing black balaclavas, the first holding a pistol, the second a shotgun and the third a knife, entered a co-op bank in Mammari and stole around £24,000.

A fourth man, waiting in a car, was the getaway driver.

All men are to be charged with several counts of armed robbery, possession of an illegal firearm and causing terror to civilians.

At the time of the robbery, there were two cashiers in the branch and one customer.
Local police as well as a police helicopter were quickly mobilised, and after a short pursuit, caught a car with the four suspects in Ayioi Trymithias.

Yiannos Stylianides, 24, Spyros Tziamas, 25, his brother Petros Tziamas, 28, as well as Sudanese asylum seeker Ana Mohammed Abdurrahman, 26, were arrested.

After their arrest, the four men, who have confessed to investigators, led police to a field where they had hidden the money, along with the weapons used during the robbery.

All four men were Mammari residents and, according to eyewitnesses and village residents, owed money to various convenience stores and kiosks.

Yesterday, Judge Angelos David ruled that the four men be charged on October 5 in a Criminal Court, adding that until that time, all four suspects should remain in custody.

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