Defence attorneys on Monday grilled a nursery schoolteacher who had supervised the class of Stylianos Constantinou, the boy who took his own life at the age of 14.

The case before Nicosia district court revolves around allegations of abuse and neglect within the family, as well as whether state services responded adequately to warning signs before the boy’s suicide in 2019.

The witness was being cross-examined by the defendants’ attorneys. During an earlier hearing, the same witness described how Stylianos had once brought a knife to school.

The teacher had supervised Stylianos’ class in the 2009-2010 school year.

The attorney for Stylianos’ mother, one of the defendants, submitted that the mother suffers from bipolar disorder. He asked the witness if she had noticed that the boy – then aged five – was suffering from the same.

The witness said no.

Next the attorney submitted that Stylianos’ aggressive behaviour could have been due to factors other than his home environment. Responding, the teacher said it was possible, but in her opinion the boy’s behaviour could best be explained by him being exposed to domestic violence.

The witness was then cross-examined by the attorney for another defendant, a social worker.

She was asked whether she had reported the boy’s case to her superiors or to a trained psychologist. The witness was also challenged that she had not “taken an interest” early on.

Responding, the teacher said she learned of Stylianos’ problems after November 2009, and that she notified a special committee around February/March of 2010.

Directly challenging the witness, the defence attorney told her she was derelict in her duties. At this point, prosecutors objected. The judge ordered the remarks struck from the record.

Next the attorney asked the teacher why in March 2010 she had disagreed with a proposal to let Stylianos stay in nursery school for an extra year.

She replied that she felt Stylianos would have found better support in primary school – such as an escort and speech therapy classes not available in nursery.

On one occasion, the witness told the court, she had told Stylianos to be careful not to hurt himself.

According to her, the boy said: “I want to fall so I can die”.

At other times, Stylianos had also reportedly said “I will shoot you” and “I will send you to jail” – language which the witness thought the boy had picked up at home.

The boy committed suicide in September 2019, having earlier attempted to take his own life in May of the same year.

The trial continues on Tuesday with the prosecution summoning to the stand a different witness.