The court of appeal has overturned the Famagusta district court’s decision to release three people on bail after all three were charged with child abuse offences, it announced on Monday.

A total of 122 charges have been brought against the three defendants, with all offences concerning alleged incidents of violence and abuse against children in the same family between 2013 and last month.

The defendants, a father and two sons, are accused of actual bodily harm, attempted sexual abuse, issuing threats, psychological harm, and other offences described by the court as “serious”.

In its decision, the court of appeal also made reference to “deplorable living conditions” endured by the alleged victims, as well as “attacks, beatings, a lack of food at home, confinements, and a prohibition of leaving the home” imposed on them.

The legal service had initially filed an appeal against the Paralimni court’s decision, with the court of appeal siding with the legal service, finding that the Paralimni court had “incorrectly assessed the risk of absconding” of all three defendants.

“The evidence presented to the trial did not indicate circumstances of ties to [Cyprus] capable of outweighing the seriousness of the offence, the possibility of conviction, and the potential sentence,” it said.

It added that the release of the three defendants could present a risk of them interfering with witnesses in the case, with one complainant having already reported being contacted by a defendant.

Additionally, it said that “the risk of reoffending is visible”, and that the fact that the three defendants all had clean criminal records prior to their arrests “is not in and of itself sufficient to outweigh this possibility”.

The three defendants’ trial will begin on July 16.