Further arrest for shooting outside prison

A 27-year-old man was on Wednesday remanded in police custody for six days after being arrested in connection with shots fired in the air outside the prisons in Nicosia last week.

The man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and taken to Nicosia District Court on Wednesday, where the remand order was issued.

Another man, 26, who is reported to have been released from prison on December 29, when the incident occurred, is still under remand for the same incident.

The 26-year-old had been remanded for eight days by the Nicosia District Court, after the incident where he was suspected of shooting a gun six times in the air near the central prison after his release.

Police arrested the man from Larnaca at his home following witness testimony and examination of CCTV footage.

According to what was heard in court on Saturday, CCTV footage at the prisons showed eight people arriving to pick the suspect up, in three cars. The group is also seen in the footage taking a picture outside the prison.

The court also heard that police are examining a second set of CCTV footage from cameras located around 100 metres away from the prisons.

The police inspector told the court that these cameras have footage of one of the vehicles, but not of the individuals. He added that the cameras captured the first letters of one of the cars’ front licence plates, which did not have a back licence plate.

The main suspect was spotted in the cameras of the prison entering one of the vehicles seen in the second set of cameras. The inspector said that the 26-year-old was seen getting into the driver’s seat.

According to further testimony of the inspector, the vehicle the 26-year-old was suspected to be driving was also the vehicle the gunfire originated from. The inspector said that the gunfire came from the driver’s side of the vehicle.

The defence of the 26-year-old objected to the number of days the court remanded their client for, saying “it was difficult to have a gun as soon as he left prison”.