No protective measures were taken for 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou despite years of warning signs, a criminal investigator told the Nicosia district court on Thursday during proceedings into the boy’s death in 2019.
Responding to a direct question from the prosecution, investigator Andreas Andreou gave a laconic answer, stating “no” when asked whether any action had been taken to safeguard the minor.
His testimony formed part of the ongoing trial examining potential failures by authorities in the lead-up to the teenager’s suicide in September 2019.
Andreou told the court that material gathered during the investigation indicated that social welfare services had been aware of multiple incidents concerning the child over several years but had not implemented the necessary protective interventions.
The court heard that the case is largely based on internal welfare files, which were submitted as evidence by the prosecution.
This included documentation relating to domestic violence, as well as records from what was described as the child’s “early support” file.
“The entire investigation revolves around these entries,” Andreou said, explaining that they recorded incidents and observations made by welfare officers over time.
According to the testimony, the files contained repeated references to domestic violence inflicted upon Stylianos, alongside early indications of neglect dating back to his preschool years.
Entries described concerns about his appearance, hygiene and nutrition.
Andreou told the court that the records also depicted a socially isolated child with limited interaction with peers, who had been working from a young age and had at times expressed a desire to “have a different mother”.
Observations further referred to the child “imitating” abusive behaviours seen at home, reinforcing concerns about his upbringing.
The investigator also highlighted that Stylianos’ father had been convicted in 2014 for violence against the child, a fact that was “known and recorded” in the welfare files.
Despite this, the court heard there was no indication of sustained follow-up measures to address the risks identified.
Particular attention was given to events in the months preceding the boy’s death.
Andreou confirmed that welfare authorities had been informed of a suicide attempt on May 11, 2019.
However, he said the response that followed did not meet the level expected in such circumstances.
“It was an emergency case involving a minor,” he told the court, adding that psychological support was not ultimately provided.
The explanation given, he said, was that the child did not wish to participate.
Andreou stressed that authorities had the power to intervene regardless of the minor’s consent, but “this was not done”.
The testimony forms part of a wider case involving multiple defendants, including the child’s parents and several welfare officials, facing charges linked to alleged failures to act.
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