Woman, 55, in attempted robbery bid

A FIFTY-FIVE year old woman was arrested on Monday night after attempting to rob a Limassol bakery at knifepoint.

The attempted robbery took place at the ‘Sun Fresh’ bakery on Ayia Filaxeos Street at 7.45pm.

The would-be thief entered the shop brandishing a knife, her face obscured by a black hood, and proceeded to demand money from the shop assistant working behind the till.

Coincidentally, two policemen were in the bakery when the incident occurred, and were able to restrain and disarm the female intruder.

She was initially arrested for attempted armed robbery but will not be charged after it was ascertained that she suffered psychological problems.

An unemployed widow, the woman apparently tried to rob the bakery when she became desperate to send money to her two sons studying in Canada.

She was reduced to the attempted robbery after she found herself in severe financial difficulty.

The woman has been admitted to a Limassol psychiatric unit for treatment.

Limassol police said yesterday that the incident could be the first ever attempted armed robbery by a woman in Cyprus.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.