Stylianos ‘only felt safe at school’, was ‘beaten on soles of feet’ at home

By Rebekah Gregoriades Stylianos Constantinou, who took his own life in 2019 when he was 14, “was the child who grew sadder as the school day came to a close”, special education officer at the Ayia Varvara primary school told the court on Monday. The witness spoke of bodily and psychological violence, beatings, animal abuse in the boy’s presence and repeated efforts on behalf of the school to get help. According to the witness, Stylianos had told his speech therapist that he could not sit because his father whipped him with a belt the night before. The beatings, she said, were evident on the boy’s body. Stylianos had said his father beat his mother in the abdomen when she was pregnant, made him work in the barn and strangled lambs in his presence. In her handwritten notes, which were submitted as evidence, the witness refers to information passed on by the boy’s teacher, who said the father beat Stylianos on the soles of his feet so as not to leave a trace. The witness said that in 2013 she had been notified by the headmaster that Stylianos had been beaten by his father and left home. She contacted the social welfare services and half an hour later a social worker was at the school. Both the witness and the social worker went to the police and filed a complaint against the father. That night, Stylianos did not return home and turned up at school the next day. According to the witness, it was the “only place he felt safe”. In the meantime, the mother denied all Stylianos’ accounts of violence and claimed things had improved at home. The mother called Stylianos a “mythomaniac” and claimed that those involved in the complaints were trying to break up her family. The witness said efforts were made to persuade the mother to take her children and leave her husband, however the mother believed she could not cope with the consequences. According to the witness, the mother had initially agreed to take Stylianos to a child psychologist, but later refused to do so. In late 2014, the mother said she could not afford petrol to get Stylianos to the psychologist. The witness also told the court she was displeased with one social worker, who she had difficulty contacting and her calls would be returned several days later. The specific social worker, according to the witness, did not take the necessary action for Stylianos. Furthermore, according to the witness, the role of the school was to help Stylianos overcome his learning difficulties, however information coming in indicated that the boy needed protection and support. During proceedings on Monday, a bundle of the witness’ handwritten notes were submitted as evidence, in which she recorded information about the boy’s behaviour, his family circumstances, difficulty in getting his parents to cooperate and her communication with the social services. The trial into possible family or state service negligence that led to the boy’s suicide will continue on November 4 at 11am.