Man jailed for rape of Latvian

A MAN from Frenaros was jailed for eight years yesterday for the kidnap and rape of a Latvian woman last August.

Michalis Philippou, 30, was sentenced by the Larnaca district court for the attack on the 40-year old woman.

The unnamed victim arrived in Cyprus in August 2005 to work. Twenty days later, on August 26, while she was walking on Protaras Avenue in Paralimni on her way home, Philippou, a married father of three small children, offered her a lift, but instead of taking her to her house, took her to an isolated spot despite her protests.

The court heard that he threatened to kill her before raping her and stealing £15 from her. He then threw her out of the car and left her there in the early hours of the morning

Reading the seven-page judgement, the chair of the court, Judge Antonis Liatsos, said the accused had committed grave offences and that under the circumstances the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for rape had been seriously considered as an option. But the court also considered the personal circumstances of the accused and the fact that he had a young family.

“Rape destroys the dignity of a woman and humiliates her,” Judge Liatsos said when he handed down the eight-year sentence. “The protection of this fundamental human rights depends on the Courts, and it is expressed through the strict sentences of a deterrent character that are imposed by the court.”