Cyprus appeals lenient hit-and-run sentence

Attorney-General George Savvides has appealed a 12-month jail sentence handed to a British tourist found guilty of a hit-and-run accident which killed a Swedish mother in Ayia Napa.

On Tuesday, the office of Attorney-General George Savvides tweeted that Savvides has lodged an appeal against the district court’s decision after having studied the sentence and deeming it “insufficient”.

The prosecution service decision comes just days after the woman’s family decried the sentence as “a huge insult” in a statement issued through their lawyers.

The British tourist named Manraj Singh Sidhu was jailed for one year and his license suspended for 18 months after being found guilty of the hit-and-run death of 46-year-old Camilla-Christina Pamdahl, who was on holiday with her five-year-old daughter on 4 May.

Pamdahl was hit at a pedestrian crossing in the popular holiday resort of Ayia Napa.

The 25-year-old man was driving a beach buggy which had hit the woman at a pedestrian crossing on Nisi Avenue in Ayia Napa.

Police said the buggy driver had overtaken a stationary car at a pedestrian crossing.

The driver initially abandoned the scene on foot, leaving the rental vehicle behind.

Police said the man was nearly five times over the legal alcohol limit of 9 mg with a test reading of 44 mg. He also tested positive for cannabis in his system when arrested.

Pamdhal’s husband, Jonas, told the UK’s Daily Mail of his shock and dismay at the seemingly light sentence.

“How can this happen? How can the judge only give one year? It seems to me they have rushed through this case, and no matter, he pleaded guilty. What about our family?” Jonas told the Daily Mail.

According to legal sources, the man could be out of prison in just eight months, as he has already been held for two months, while jail sentences are also reduced by 20% for good behaviour.