TWO youths were yesterday jailed for four and six months respectively in connection with the theft of £50,000 worth of valuables from a Nicosia jewellery shop earlier this month.
The two, aged 19 and 24-years-old, were arrested shortly after they broke into the Gold and Silver jewellery shop just off Ledra Street.
Police were led to their arrest after they tried to sell the stolen goods for around £480.
The duo had been working as waiters in a restaurant, which shares a small yard with the jewellers.
Their lawyer Yiannakis Mylonas said their action was a “spur of the moment madness”; they did not even know the items they had stolen were worth so much.
“Both of them thought that the stolen goods were only worth a few hundred pounds,” Mylonas said.
He stressed that the defendants’ circumstances would indicate that the court’s leniency was justified “and should be expected despite such offences being on the rise”.
“Their acts were frivolous, reckless, thoughtless and their behaviour has nothing to do with their character,” the defence said.
The two clearly looked out of place, standing in the dock side by side with their hands behind their backs.
They looked down throughout, apart from some furtive glances at the bench.
According to the defence, the 19-year-old came from a broken family – his parents were divorced when he was three-years-old.
He didn’t even remember his father, and his mother, who had been living in Athens for the past seven years, was now married to her third husband, the court heard.
He lived in five different countries but in August this year he moved to Cyprus in an attempt to start a new life.
The 24-year-old was born to a poor Greek family and worked since he was 10 to help his parents.
He managed to finish high school and after his army stint he went to Germany in search for a better life.
He decided to move to Cyprus to open a restaurant along with a friend he met in Germany, the court heard.
“Both defendants have no illusions; they know well what they are facing,” the defence said.
Judge George Stylianides sentenced the younger man four months and his older accomplice to six months in jail.
He also pointed out that their personal circumstances did not justify a suspended sentence.
According to one legal expert, the sentences were the best the two could get.
“We expected much heavier terms; it was a Christmas gift,” the expert said.
