CYPRUS MAIL Wednesday, November 21, 2012
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Man held over fatal stabbing Suspect in parking row has a history of mental illness By Elias Hazou
The luna park yesterday
(Christos Theodorides)
Landmark Nicosia luna park is forced to close doors after 45 years By Peter Stevenson ONE of the oldest luna parks on the island is being forced to close down next month, bringing to an end 45 years of fun for residents of Nicosia. Tivoli Luna Park will shut its doors on December 20 and although the park is in full working order, it hasn’t operated properly for the past six months. Next month owner Pericles Christofides will have to vacate the premises. Tivoli opened in 1967 and was originally situated on the Nicosia-Morphou road, near the Nicosia airport, but after the Turkish invasion in 1974 it found a new home next to the Nicosia State Fair. Tivoli was the first luna park to bring go-karts to the island when it opened in 1967. Christofides believes he is the victim of a consortium of local businessmen who are looking to take advantage of the space he is renting from the government and use it for their own gain. He believes he is essentially being evicted from the state fair due to a technicality. Christofides believed he had a rental agreement in place but after a court appearance, discovered that he only possessed a permit to work on the premises,
which was not renewed for 2013. “I would like to thank all of the people who have shown their support and love through the hundreds of messages of support that I receive every day,” said Christofides. “The fact that people visit me every day telling me of their sorrow and indignation at the unfair closing
because of their memories for the place and for me are unforgettable,” he added. The luna park is currently being used to stage an unusual version the Chekov play The Cherry Orchard, which takes the audience through several areas of the park. The show will run until November 30.
A MAN with a history of mental illness was yesterday taken into custody over the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Apostolis Athanasiou in Limassol late on Monday. It later emerged that the suspect, Eleftherios Constantinou, has a track record of violent behaviour. Constantinou, 22, is set to appear before a Limassol court today, where police will ask that he be remanded for eight days. He faces charges of premeditated murder. According to police, the incident took place around 10.30pm on Monday in Kato Polemidia, Limassol. The two men were neighbours. The suspect allegedly got into a row with Athanasiou over the latter’s choice of parking. The victim, who had just returned home, had parked his car in a nearby field. Athanasiou then proceeded to move his car, but in the meantime the suspect had resurfaced from his house brandishing a military knife, with which he allegedly stabbed the victim. Neighbours hearing the screams reportedly rushed to the victim’s aid. The 23-year-old was rushed to Limassol general hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. The suspect had fled the scene. Police launched a manhunt, releasing Constantinou’s photo and physical description to the public. They finally tracked him down around 3pm yesterday. He was found sitting in his car on a dirt road off the Platres-Kyperounda road. Reports said the suspect’s
relatives had in the meantime tried to reach him on his cell phone to get him to give himself up. An autopsy yesterday determined the victim died of massive bleeding as a result of a single stab wound that pierced his chestplate and heart. State pathologist Nicholas Charalambous said the nature of the blow was such that the victim may have died almost instantaneously. Police said later the suspect had a history of mental problems. In February 2011 he had stabbed and injured a 48-year-old man, again in Limassol, under “similar circumstances.”
MONITORED Constantinou was at the time examined by a psychiatrist, and then referred to the Athalassa Psychiatric ward in Nicosia, where he remained for a while. Doctors monitoring him there subsequently declared him fit to appear before court, and the case was set to go to trial in March 2013 - two years later. Constantinou was then released, though he was being monitored by the Welfare Services. The diagnosis of his mental condition could not be verified yesterday; the Welfare Services could not be reached for comment. It’s understood the suspect was living with his parents. Police spokesman Andreas Angelides told the Cyprus Mail that law enforcement could not have imposed any restrictions on the man once he had been released from the psychiatric ward and a date set for a trial.