Pensioners come to broom battle over fig tree mess

A NICOSIA court yesterday heard how two elderly neighbours came to blows with broomsticks over the mess being created by a fig tree.

The somewhat light-hearted proceedings, which saw 67-year-old Stavroulla Michael in the dock charged with two counts of assault against 95-year-old Sofoclis Grigoriou, ended yesterday with Michael receiving a caution from Judge Angelos David.

Michael had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but yesterday changed her plea to guilty after an understanding was reached between the prosecution and the defence.

According to the facts of the case, which occurred on September 30 last year, Grigoriou was hit on the head with a broom while he was cleaning his front door.

According to the 95-year-old man, the person who had hit him was his next door neighbour Michael, who would frequently argue with him because the fig tree in her garden would create a mess close to his front gate.

“On the day in question, she hit me over the head with the broom while I was cleaning up the figs. She then called me a homosexual and a bastard before saying that my wife was whore that would sleep with everybody on a daily basis,” the frail Grigoriou told the court.

He also said that his head began bleeding from the blow he had sustained and that since that day, she frequently hurls abuse at him, his wife and his son who visits him from time to time.
“Stavroulla is a woman who has argued and made trouble with absolutely everyone in the neighbourhood. She is a liar, a deceiver and a cad,” he added.

The defendant, on her part, claims that it was Grigoriou that attacked her first by hitting her on the back with his own broom.

A police constable, who also took the stand yesterday, had told the court that the two pensioners would frequently visit the local police station and file complaints against each other.

Ruling on the case, Judge David ordered that Michael sign a guarantee of £1,000 that she would strictly uphold the law for the next two years.
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