Court upholds 10-year jail sentence for attempted murder

A man sentenced to 10 years imprisonment has had his appeal rejected, despite his claim that mitigating circumstances were not considered.

The case stems from a 2016 stabbing in which a then 23-year-old Mazotos resident was charged with the attempted murder of his fellow villager, whom he stabbed twice – once in the neck and once in the chest, near the heart.

In his appeal, he claimed that the court had not factored in his compliance and cooperation with the police, his young age at the time of the crime, his family’s dependence on his income, his confession and stated remorse.

It was further claimed that the ten-year sentence imposed “is not correctional but clearly punitive”.

In rejecting the man’s arguments, the appeals court stated that he was charged with attempted murder which is one of the most serious offences of the criminal code.

It further reasoned that the perpetrator’s intent was to indeed kill his victim, adding that its role is not to redefine the sentence but to only intervene when it is proven that the sentence resulted from an error of principle or is manifestly insufficient or excessive.

In June 2017, the accused’s lawyer, Savvas Matsas, sought to have the attempted murder charge dropped based on the argument that his client was under the influence of drugs when the incident occurred.

The defendant was arrested on December 17, 2016 following a 1.30am argument in a village coffee shop during which he assaulted the victim.

He left the coffee shop but returned minutes later in a car which, according to police, he used to hit a 20-year-old man before driving to a supermarket where he got out and stabbed the victim twice in the chest and neck before speeding off.

The two injured men were rushed to Larnaca hospital, after which doctors decided to transfer the victim to Nicosia General Hospital for surgery due to the severity of his injuries. The second injured man was treated for a bruised thigh and discharged.