Famagusta district court on Wednesday found two men and a company guilty in the death of an 18 year old youth at an Ayia Napa hotel swimming pool in August 2014 through reckless action, the Cyprus News Agency reports.
The victim, Savvakis Alexandrou Georgiou from the UK, was found unresponsiveĀ in the swimming pool of the hotel on the morning of August 18, 2014 by other hotel guests where he was holidaying. The hotel was operated by the company and was managed by the two defendants aged 63 and 33 at the time.
According to the post-mortem examination, the cause of death was drowning, to which the consumption of a quantity of alcohol had contributed.
The court noted that were warning signs round the pool on the dangers of swimming after the consumption of alcohol but said that could not be considered as an effective safety measure. Moreover, use of pool in the early hours of the morning was unobstructed to people who had been drinking and was even encourage as part of a package combining alcohol with the operation of pool.
The court said that even though young people would come to the pool in the early hours from other Ayia Napa nightspots, there was no lifeguard on duty.
The defendants had created a dangerous situation through the operation of a swimming pool that did not have a lifeguard on duty, in combination with the operation of a bar that served alcohol, it said.
Judge Xenis Xenophontos ordered that the defendants be held in custody until February 19 when the defence will argue in mitigation.
