Judge intervenes as teacher faces questioning in Stylianos Constantinou trial

Nicosia, Cyprus. A judge intervened during a tense exchange at Nicosia district court on Friday between a former special education teacher and the lawyer for Stylianos Constantinou’s father. The trial concerns the death of the 14-year-old, with questioning focusing on allegations that his father had required him to work on the family farm.

Teacher questioned over farm accounts

The witness had provided special education support to Stylianos in the 2012-2013 school year. Under cross-examination, he faced questions about the boy’s repeated accounts of being made to work on the farm by his father.

At a previous hearing, the teacher had described regularly finding Stylianos sleeping at his desk when he came to collect him for lessons. He said attempts to wake the boy were unsuccessful and that Stylianos attributed his exhaustion to being at the farm until 11pm.

The defence lawyer disputed the reliability of those accounts, arguing that a seven-year-old could not have herded sheep in darkness at 11pm or performed work of that difficulty.

Defence disputes interpretation of farm visits

The teacher said Stylianos had spent time in the yard rather than playing with toys. The lawyer countered that the boy had been playing football in the family’s backyard.

The lawyer also argued that occasional visits to the farm with his parents did not establish that Stylianos had been required to work. He said the parents might have taken him because they could not leave him at home alone, including when they had to deliver a sheep.

The witness responded by drawing a distinction between an isolated occurrence and something continuing throughout the year.

The heated exchange prompted the judge to restore order and ask Stylianos’ father to temper his courtroom reactions. Questioning subsequently moved to the teacher’s previous evidence about the boy’s appearance and hygiene.