In the trial concerning the suicide of Stylianos Constantinou, the defendants’ attorneys on Friday sought to discredit the testimony of a prosecution witness, describing as arbitrary her personal conclusion that the boy was subjected to physical and psychological abuse by his father.

On the stand was Stella Constantinou Allayiotou, a special teacher assigned to Stylianos when he was aged six, in pre-school. The boy took his own life in 2019, when he was aged 15.

The witness was cross-examined by two defence lawyers – the attorney for the late boy’s father, and the attorney for another defendant, a social worker.

The first lawyer, Constantinos Kazantzis, put it to the witness that Stylianos never told her that he was beaten by his father, and that therefore her earlier statements to that effect were arbitrary.

While acknowledging that the boy never told her he was being abused in the family home, she insisted her conclusions were valid, given Stylianos’ overall behavior as well as other comments he would make.

Allayiotou said she concluded this, for example, after the boy told her on more than one occasion that he would kill his father once he “grew up”.

Allegedly Stylianos had told the teacher that he would “slaughter him [his father] just like his father slaughters the goats”.

In telling this, the boy allegedly made a gesture indicating the slashing of the throat.

The lawyer asked the witness why a report she had filed on Stylianos did not include a psychological diagnosis. She replied that it was purely an education-related report.

Regarding the teacher’s recommendation at the time that the boy be examined by a neurologist in order to rule out attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Adhd), the witness confirmed but said she was not aware if this examination ever took place.

Allayiotou also confirmed she had recommended that the boy take a year off before getting enrolled into primary school. Her opinion was that Stylianos needed another year of special education, helping him better prepare for first grade and “potentially giving him time to calm down emotionally”.

Next the attorney pointed to a discrepancy between the witness’ sworn deposition to police and her testimony in court. He was referring to Allayiotou’s statement in court that every Monday morning she would wash Stylianos’ face and hands, because the boy came to school in a filthy state. The lawyer pointed out that the witness had not mentioned this to the police.

Allayiotou acknowledged this point, saying she must have forgotten to tell police about it. But she insisted it was true.

Elsewhere in her testimony, the witness said that other children did not want to play with Stylianos because he “smelled badly”.

On this, the attorney suggested that Stylianos was being bullied by his classmates.

The witness disagreed, saying the other children simply didn’t want to play with Stylianos, and that this was not bullying.

Coming back, the lawyer submitted that Stylianos’ anger issues may have stemmed from his learning disability and his difficulty socialising at school.

To which the witness responded: “That is your own conclusion.”

Allayiotou was then grilled by another defence attorney, Viktoras Akamas. The lawyer asked the witness whether she had ever filed a written report regarding clues about violence exerted on Stylianos. The witness said no.

He then submitted to the witness that she done her job poorly. Allayiotou disagreed.

The trial continues on Monday. There are 11 defendants in total, facing charges ranging from physical/mental abuse to negligence.