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Cyprus Mail
It was an accident, claims man who mowed down man and dog after beach row
By Jean Christou
THE SUSPECT who mowed down and killed a man and his dog in Latchi on Wednesday yesterday claimed he had lost his glasses and could not see the victim.
Zacharias Christodoulou, 63, from Neo Chorio, told the Paphos court that he lost his glasses during a spat with the victim Constantinos Anakatos, 50, over the presence of the victim’s dog on the beach in Latchi.
Anakatos had taken the dog for a swim on Wednesday shortly before the argument erupted with Christodoulou at around 6pm.
Anakatos, who lived in the village of Prodromi, where he had moved several years ago, was killed on Wednesday afternoon when Christodoulou ran him over with his car. The dog was also killed.
But Christodoulou claimed it was an accident. He told the court that when the argument began over the dog, Anakatos had lunged at him and pulled off his crucifix.
“He said they fought and the victim hit him with a stick,” said a Paphos police spokesman, who said the suspect had abandoned the scene. The victim had thrown stones at him and he was afraid, Christodoulou also told police.
During the fracas with Anakatos, Christodoulou dropped his glasses, he claimed, and when the victim moved off with his dog, and he himself got into his car, he didn’t see Anakatos in front of the vehicle when he started driving.
However, police said eyewitnesses had testified that Christodoulou had actually driven some distance towards the victim before hitting him with the car as if chasing him down.
After Anakatos was hit by the car, Christodoulou allegedly then drove over him and the dog.
The victim was hit with such force that his lungs collapsed and he died of head injuries and internal bleeding, reports said.
Anakatos was taken to Polis hospital at first and from there to Paphos General, where he was pronounced clinically dead.
Christodoulou, who is facing murder charges, was remanded by the Paphos court for eight days yesterday.
Savvas Theodorou, the mukhtar of Neo Chorio, told reporters yesterday that Anakatos had been cautioned twice last year over taking his dog into the sea at that particular beach.
“He was very aggressive,” alleged Theodorou. “I advised the employee of the village council not to pay any attention to his protests.”
Speaking of Christodoulou, he added: “He was the most peaceful man in the village. I’ve never seen him angry.”
“He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” another resident told reporters.
With additional reporting by Bejay Browne
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