By Charlie Charalambous
A BRITISH tourist was remanded in police custody yesterday, ending a 24- hour manhunt for the suspect who left a Cypriot chef struggling for life.
Gavin Kirin Gallimore, from Southgate, north London, was remanded for eight days by a Larnaca court, on suspicion of assault and causing grievous bodily harm.
The 30-year-old was arrested in Ayia Napa at around 5am yesterday morning, following the vicious attack on Cypriot chef Loucas Ioannou at the Black and White disco on Tuesday.
Police found Gallimore at an Ayia Napa bar after questioning his brother who was with him at the time of the incident.
When first questioned, Gavin Gallimore denied he had been at the disco at the time of the attack, investigating officer George Economou told the court.
Later, Economou said, the suspect revised his initial claim and admitted to “punching the victim once, saying he had a good reason for doing so.”
However, Economou said such claims “contrasted with existing testimony”.
“The incident happened after Ioannou accidentally bumped into the suspect with his shoulder, and then the suspect punched the victim and he fell to the ground,” said Economou.
Gallimore’s brother tried to give first aid to the unconscious chef, while the suspect left the disco punching the door on the way out, the court heard.
With the Nicosia chef critically injured with a fractured skull, road blocks went up in and around Ayia Napa and apartments were searched, but Gallimore himself was just sleeping it off at his holiday flat.
Following a search of the room, the suspect handed over the clothes he was wearing that night, which Economou said were marked with “what looked like blood stains”.
There was no change in Ioannou’s condition yesterday, with Nicosia General hospital still describing his condition as “critical”.
He is still on a ventilator at the hospital and doctors are saying the next 48 hours will determine whether he pulls through or not.
According to eye-witness reports, the chef was seen being pulled by the hair and beaten severely around the head by his attacker.
A dapper-looking Gallimore, a quantity surveyor, was led out of court in handcuffs and did not speak during or after the proceedings.
