A British man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison in Cyprus for the manslaughter of Ioannis Polycarpou following a hit-and-run incident.
The 46-year-old Briton, whose name remains undisclosed, was convicted on Tuesday for deliberately knocking Polycarpou off his motorcycle after a heated argument outside a nightclub in Paphos in January 2023. The altercation, which began inside the nightclub, escalated and culminated in the British driver ramming his car into Polycarpou’s motorcycle on Tombs of the Kings Avenue, causing Polycarpou’s death.
The British man then fled the scene, leaving Polycarpou fatally injured.
The British driver was later apprehended by police, who found him driving a car with damage consistent with the collision.
Attempting to cover up the evidence with spray paint, the driver also tested positive for narcotics.
Initially charged with premeditated murder, the charges were reduced to manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty.
The tragic incident follows a similar case from two years prior, where another British man received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for running over and killing a Swedish mother while under the influence, further highlighting concerns about reckless driving by foreign nationals in Cyprus.
Image credit: Milo Rossi
