Greek Cypriot ‘caravan thief’ in north out of hospital, back in court

The Greek Cypriot man who was arrested on suspicion of having stolen two caravans in the north is out of hospital and appeared in court again on Friday.

The man, reportedly aged 60, was arrested on August 8, before subsequently being admitted to intensive care after falling ill on August 14. As a result, his previous hearing, held on August 15, was held in absentia.

However, he has since recovered sufficiently to be able to appear in court and was present for his latest hearing in northern Nicosia on Friday.

In court, police officer Ibrahim Ertarkan recounted the events of the case so far, explaining that the man’s most recent theft took place at around 5.40am on August 6, when he stole a caravan which had been parked off the central Belediye boulevard in Kioneli’s Yenikent suburb.

The police had later found the caravan near Louroujina. It belonged to a resident of Famagusta and had been parked in Yenikent for weeks prior to its theft.

Ertarkan then said that investigations had led police to believe that the same man was responsible for the theft of another caravan, which had been parked next to the King Autos used car showroom off the dual carriageway linking Morphou and Famagusta.

That caravan had been stolen at around 6am on April 13 and has not yet been found.

Additionally, Ertarkan said that police believe the man had entered the north illegally near Louroujina rather than use a crossing point.

For this, he had been taken to military court on August 9 for the crime of violating a military controlled area, as is customary for all those who enter the north from the Republic without using crossing points.

During that hearing, police said they had found 103 cartons of cigarettes, seven cartons of rolling tobacco, one carton of hookah tobacco, and 25 cartons of tobacco sticks for electronic cigarettes, all of which had been smuggled to the north from the Republic.

With the police’s investigation into the matter still ongoing, and one of the two caravans still having not yet been found, judge Nuray Necdet ordered that the man’s remand be extended for another three days.

At the same time, the man’s lawyer requested that his client undergo a medical examination and Necdet acquiesced.