Over two years, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence imposed on the 54-year-old for the death of 27-year-old Panagiotis Christoforou in 2019, following a horrific accident.
The driver had been sentenced by the Limassol Criminal Court to nine years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter under Article 205 of the Penal Code.
According to the facts, on 28th November 2019, around 00:38 on the Nicosia-Limassol motorway just before the Mouttagiaka exit, a fatal accident occurred involving Panagiotis Christoforou, aged 27, a father of a child.
The appellant was driving his BMW car and collided with the rear of the victim’s SUZUKI car.
It was found that his blood alcohol level was 246 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, while the legal limit is 50 milligrams, a level considered very high and having an intoxicating effect.
This fact, combined with the consumption of pills that should not be taken with alcohol, led, as determined by the Criminal Court, to the 50-year-old not having control of himself and being unfit to drive.
For a series of reasons, the convicted person complained in his appeal that the sentence imposed was excessive, while he sought acquittal on the charge of manslaughter.
The Court of Appeal, after analysing all the grounds of appeal, judged that in cases of involuntary manslaughter, there is fluctuation in sentencing in jurisprudence and depends on the facts of each case.
Taking into account the facts of the present case, the Court of Appeal states, as well as the circumstances of the commission of the offence of manslaughter as described in our decision for conviction, we deem that these circumstances fall within the framework and scope of the sentences set by jurisprudence for conditions of involuntary manslaughter.
“Given that the present case concerns involuntary manslaughter and taking further into account all the mitigating factors concerning the appellant’s person objectively judged, these are not reflected in the imposed sentence. Based on the above, the sentence of 9 years is deemed manifestly excessive and is replaced with a 7-year prison sentence. The appeal against the conviction is dismissed. The appeal as to the sentence is successful,” concludes the Court of Appeal.
