Pontian gets 18 years for manslaughter
A MAN accused of killing his compatriot after a row during a Sunday barbeque in September was jailed for 18 years by the Nicosia court yesterday.
On September 16, Greek Pontian Hippocrates Damotsides, 32, was arrested by police after the victim Demis Pasenides, 30, was found dead with three stab wounds to the neck and chest in the park near the Ochi roundabout.
According to witnesses, Damotsides slashed Pasenides across the throat after being taunted over the way in which he had cut the meat the previous day during a barbeque.
The 32-year-old was to be initially charged with premeditated murder, a charge which carries a life sentence. However the charges were reduced to manslaughter.
The trouble began a day before the attack when a group of friends gathered in Kornos Park to celebrate the birth of a child. Damotsides was cutting meat for the barbecue when a friend of the victim apparently taunted him, accusing him of doing a “woman’s job”.
The two rowed and almost came to blows until Pasenides intervened. The mood turned sour and the picnic came to an early end.
Later that night, both the victim and killer went out for drinks in separate groups near the Ochi roundabout. At some point, Damotsides met with Pasenides and confronted him over the earlier insults to his manliness. The two fought and the victim ripped the killer’s shirt.
According to police, Damotsides then went to his car to change his shirt.
He picked up the knife used earlier to cut the meat and returned to Pasenides. The victim suffered a slash to the throat and two stab wounds in the chest.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
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