Stylianos’ mother was depressed but ‘still functioning’

The hearing into the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou, who died by suicide in 2019, continued on Wednesday with the cross-examination of a witness at Nicosia district court.

Appearing before court for the second time for the cross-examination by the defence of Stylianos’ father, head nurse of the mental health services, Kyriaki Ioannou, said that the information she received about the circumstances in the boy’s family came from various sources, denying the defence’s allegations that the mother’s testimony could not be trusted due to her mental state.

“It was said by the mother, the teachers, the educational psychologist, the social workers, the parish priest – everyone who witnessed it,” she said.

Ioannou explained that in her role as a social care nurse, her duty was not to diagnose the child but rather to gather the necessary background information and pass it on to a psychologist.

She said that although there was no written consent from the father to record the child’s medical history, she had been assured by the mother that his consent had been given.

Addressing the witness, defence lawyer Konstantinos Kazantzis said that during her main examination, she had stated that the purpose of her work with the mother was to support her, asking whether the referral concerned Stylianos himself.

Ioannou described Stylianos as a child who lived in a “very specific” family environment, stressing that his difficulties “very likely stemmed from those he was experiencing” and underlined that the role of the state services also included providing support for the parents.

Asked whether the service supported every parent who approached it or when there was a specific need, Ioannou replied that this depended on the nature of the problem.

She said that in Stylianos’ case, educational psychologists, teachers, the mother and a social worker had reported that he was “a self-destructive child” and that, based on the referral, the case had been deemed “extremely urgent”.

The cross-examination continued with the allegations of violence by Stylianos’ father and on what had been included in the witness’ report on the child, with Kazantzis pointing out that Ioannou’s report contained no personal accounts of violence by the father against Stylianos, which Ioannou confirmed.

With regard to reports that Stylianos had witnessed incidents of violence directed against his mother, Ioannou said that these were included in the case history recorded after her meeting with the mother.

Kazantzis then referred to an entry in the child’s medical records, according to which the mother had described her relationship with the father as ‘”very good”, next to which the witness had placed a question mark.

Ioannou said that the mother had initially described her husband as “very patient and caring towards his children”, whilst at another point describing him as “short tempered” and using foul language.

According to Ioannou, she raised this point because she felt that the statements contradicted one another, which she intended to discuss with the social worker who would have been assessing the child.

Regarding Stylianos’ work on the family farm, Ioannou said that the boy carried out jobs such as feeding the animals and cleaning duties.

Kazantzis responded to the witness’ statements by saying that these activities did not constitute actual work or the replacement of a worker, and that there was no mention of this in her report, which Ioannou confirmed.

Kazantzis also broached the subject of the mother’s psychological well-being, remarking that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder several years later.

Ioannou replied that she was not aware of that specific diagnosis.

When asked whether, at the time, the mother was experiencing mental health issues, Ioannou said that she was suffering from depression but was “still functioning”.

“I saw her as perfectly lucid, though with a depressed mood,” she said, adding that she had spoken to a psychologist and a psychiatrist and that “the woman was not bipolar”.

The continuation of the proceedings was scheduled for October 15.

The case concerns the investigation into the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou, with the court examining allegations of neglect involving both his family and state services.