A THIEF yesterday escaped with a two-year suspended sentence, after a Nicosia Court agreed to give him a second chance to battle his drug addiction.
Vladimir Michaelides was convicted of breaking into an Ayios Dhometios church and stealing £40 from a vault, as well as stealing £100 worth of scratch cards from a kiosk; h had also admitted to police that he had previously broken into another church but did not manage to find anything worth stealing.
Michaelides’ defence yesterday pleaded for a compassionate sentence for the accused, arguing his crimes were driven by his heroin addiction.
“We have a tragic situation here. The accused turned to hard drugs when his father died of cancer. He became depressed and, like many youngsters, unfortunately in our community, turned to drugs for comfort.
“He checked himself into the Drug Rehabilitation Clinic at Limassol General Hospital, but that didn’t last long and pretty soon he was taking drugs again and committing crimes.”
The lawyer added that both the priest of the church he robbed and the kiosk owner did not want to press charges and in fact wanted the youngster to be given a second chance.
Judge Angelos David told the accused that the crimes he had committed were serious and could in some cases carry a sentence of up to 10 years. However, he added that the court took into consideration the overwhelming support from the plaintiffs to have the accused showed leniency.
Judge David ordered a two-year suspended sentence, before turning to a relieved Michaelides and giving him a final and stern warning.
“The court has shown leniency towards you because a lot of good-hearted people want to give you a second chance. However, you now have to prove that you have changed; beating the problem of drugs will be very hard but you have to do it,” the Judge said.
“If you mess up in the future, then there will be no second chance and those good people who gave you a second chance will turn in seconds against you. And even a judge will have no problem in handing a five-, seven- or even ten-year sentence because you messed up. Clean up your act and best wishes for the future.”
