The defence in the trial concerning the suicide of a teenager in 2019 sought on Thursday to downplay the responsibility of the social welfare services, while a key prosecution witness insisted more could have been done to prevent the boy from taking his own life.

Andreas Andreou, a criminal investigator, was being cross-examined by Andreas Christou, attorney for two of the defendants.

The case concerns Stylianos Constantinou, who committed suicide in September 2019. He had been living in a household where multiple cases of domestic violence were recorded. During a previous hearing this week, Andreou cited the teenager himself, who had claimed he was beaten with a belt, saying his father would “beat him like a dog” at the family-owned farm.

The boy had tried to take his own life previously, in May of 2019.

Christou presented to the witness logs made by social welfare officers complaining about being overworked due to understaffing.

In 2019, when one of the defendants worked as supervisor at the local Latsia office, that office was handling about 980 cases of preventive protection to minors.

“I can’t deny that,” the witness responded.

Next, the defence attorney submitted that the social welfare services had the right, but not the obligation, to remove parental custody.

This related to Andreou’s earlier comment that, had the services taken custody of Stylianos, even temporarily, he might still be alive today.

Replying, Andreou insisted that the law gives social workers the “authority” to remove parental custody.

The lawyer then turned to the events of May 13, 2013 involving a report of physical violence committed against Stylianos by his father.

The social welfare services met with Stylianos at the time, took a statement from him, and arrangements were made to provide support to the mother.

On this incident, the witness said social workers had performed their duties “adequately”.

The defence attorney next presented an official document of the social welfare services pertaining to the May incident where Stylianos attempted to take his own life.

The document described the attempted suicide as “disappointment due to a love affair”.

Whereas acknowledging this is what the report stated, Andreou said that investigations at the time had uncovered other testimony contradicting this account.

The witness said that friends of Stylianos said the boy bore a bruise after placing a shotgun under his chin, and that acquaintances denied the failed suicide was due to him being lovelorn.

Andreou stressed that the incident “was the most serious one in Stylianos’ life prior to his death”.

Had psychological support measures been provided at the time, he added, perhaps the subsequent suicide might have been averted.

The trial continues on Friday.