The 18-year-old who escaped from custody at the Larnaca court on Monday had served an 18-month prison sentence over a 2024 crash in a stolen car in which a passenger was killed, philenews understands.
In November 2024, when he was 16, he was driving a stolen vehicle that was involved in a crash in which an 18-year-old woman sitting in the back seat died. He left the scene and was arrested later.
He is known to police for burglaries and thefts, despite his age, and two of his brothers are serving sentences at the Central Prisons.
After serving his sentence, he was released early this year but has since been arrested twice more over thefts, and was acquitted in one of the cases. The most recent arrest was in September, over a car theft, for which a case has been filed against him. On Monday, the Larnaca court rejected his lawyer’s objection to his continued detention.
He was then taken to the court holding cells and, shortly after noon, put in a police van with other detainees to be taken back to Aradippou police station, where he was being held. He managed to escape and ran off, in circumstances police have not yet clarified.
A large number of officers rushed to the area, and he was found and arrested in central Larnaca shortly after 2pm.
An investigation has been ordered into how he escaped from lawful custody.
