A 43-year-old Syrian national who confessed to killing 61-year-old Olga Vasilyeva was attacked by another prisoner in his cell at the Limassol police detention centre on Sunday evening.

According to local media, police officers who witnessed the incident rushed to the cell to break up the pair; the Syrian was taken to Limassol general hospital and discharged later to return to the detention centre.

Authorities are investigating how the other prisoner was able to reach him, who has since been isolated from other detainees to prevent a further attack.

According to Phileleftheros, he requested that the incident not be followed up and that no further investigation be carried out, as he did not seek any further confrontation with other prisoners.

The attack came hours after the Syrian national was remanded in custody for eight days by the Limassol district court on Sunday.

Police told the court he had given a voluntary statement admitting that he struck Vasilyeva repeatedly on the head with a hammer, an act police said followed an insult and took place in an “apparent fit of rage”.

Police said he kept her body at his home overnight, then drove it to her field in the Saittas area of Moniatis and disposed of the cadaver into a well.

After confessing on Saturday afternoon, he led officers from the Limassol CID to the property, where the special police unit Emak recovered the body that night.

Vasilyeva was last seen on October 21 in Linopetra, where she parked her car before going to the man’s home.

Her disappearance was reported on October 28 and was first investigated as an abduction.

He was stopped at Larnaca airport on October 30 as he tried to travel to Beirut.

Investigators said he bought the tickets at 5am on October 29, hours after her disappearance became public.

Police said he admitted lying to extract money from her, putting the sum at €15,000 to €20,000.