British soldiers in Cyprus bar brawl acquitted
Joanna Sugden From Times Online August 1, 2008
Nine British soldiers involved in a bar brawl in Cyprus that left a man with a fractured skull were acquitted today.
In the aftermath of the drink-fuelled fracas in Ayia Napa, local officials had called for all teenage soldiers serving in Cyprus to be barred from the resort.
However, delivering his verdict, a judge in Cyprus said that there had been conflicting evidence from witnesses and he was not satisfied with identification procedures.
The men had faced charges ranging from causing grievous bodily harm to criminal damage at the bar where they had been celebrating “millionaire’s weekend” - so-called because it was their last pay packet before their tour in Cyprus ended in March.
The soldiers were seen to be visibly relieved as the verdicts were read out. Captain Nick Ulvert, deputy spokesman for British Forces in Cyprus, who was in court, said: “There was an audible gasp - it was fantastic news. There were a couple of lads (who) slapped each other on the back. They smiled and grinned at each other, and there was a lot of disbelief."
Many areas of Ayia Napa are already strictly out of bounds to British troops following a spate of violent and drunken incidents in the mid-1990s. The soldiers were all “out of bounds” when the brawl took place at the Bedrock Inn.
The court was not told what sparked the trouble on the night, but it appears one soldier was attacked, possibly with a baseball bat, either in or around the bar. Soldiers then stormed the bar to “back up” fellow servicemen - and possibly to find the culprits.
The bar owner, Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, told the court that 20 soldiers rampaged through his bar, throwing bottles, attacking staff and breaking everything in sight.
He had a chair smashed over his head before escaping to lock himself in the toilets until police arrived. He later needed an operation to restore his damaged eyesight. He is pursuing the soldiers for £4m in damages in a separate, civil action.
A member of his staff and a customer were also left injured, along with two soldiers, including Darren Mason, 28, from Manchester, who suffered a fractured skull.
Judge Elias Georgiou said: “The charges faced by the defendants have not been proven to the required degree. All defendants are acquitted. I find them innocent."
The soldiers from 2nd Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, had faced up to five years in jail when they pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them. They also faced being removed from the Army.
Around 10,000 British troops and their dependants are stationed in Cyprus. After the incident, local mayor Antonis Tsokkos said he wanted to ban all teenage British soldiers serving on Cyprus from visiting the resort.
Fusilier William Sewell, 21, from Manchester, was cleared of grievous bodily harm, malicious damage and breach of the peace.Fusiliers David Ramage, 21, from Manchester, and Daniel Brayne, 22, from Birmingham, were cleared of charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm along with malicious damage and breach of the peace.
Fusiliers Damien Heywood, 27, Andy Evans, 21, and Dean Rushton, 21, all from Manchester, Gary Farrell, 23, from Newcastle upon Tyne, Christopher Wenham, 19, from London, and Ashley Hughes, 19, from Birmingham, were all acquitted of malicious damage and breach of the peace.
