Witness defends efforts to help Stylianos in court

The persons involved in tracking the case of Stylianos Constantinou, the teenager who took his own life, had tried to “save” the boy, but he could not be saved, a prosecution witness told the court on Thursday. Taking the stand was an education ministry liaison functionary who had been assigned to Stylianos’ case from 2011 to 2015. The boy committed suicide in September 2019, at age 14. She was being cross-examined by Viktoras Akamas, the attorney for one of the defendants – an employee of the welfare services tasked with monitoring the boy’s family. The witness was taken to task over references she made concerning the 2011-2012 period during which, she asserted, Stylianos allegedly suffered beatings from his father. On at least one occasion, the boy allegedly came to school with bruises apparently caused by a belt. The functionary said she was receiving most of her information about the case second-hand – namely from the speech therapist assigned to Stylianos. She never personally met the boy or the family, but sat in on meetings discussing Stylianos’ case – meetings in which social workers also participated. According to the witness, she would try to reach the defendant on the phone, but often the defendant would not pick up. On occasion she managed to speak with the defendant. On this point, the attorney submitted to the witness that she never contacted the defendant. The witness disagreed, telling the lawyer he was entitled to his opinion. The cross-examination also covered a handwritten memo the witness had received from the person previously assigned as special education liaison officer for Stylianos. The word ‘SOS’ was written on the memo. The witness said this was not an official document, but rather informal communications between colleagues. Asked why she did not mention this ‘SOS’ memo in her statement to police investigators in September 2020, the witness said she was unfamiliar with the procedure and had not prepped for the statement. She told the criminal investigator what she could recall at the time. Akamas pushed on, asking the witness why her own handwritten notes made no mention of her briefing the defendant – the welfare services functionary – regarding alleged incidents of abuse against Stylianos. She responded that, during one of the meetings, the defendant was also present. “Whatever she heard, I heard as well.” Next the attorney asked the witness why she had “a problem” with the defendant. The witness said it was not a personal matter. “I had a problem with the fact that the boy was not helped,” she replied. She did not have precise information as to when the defendant visited the family home. The trial continues on Friday. There are 11 defendants in total, facing charges ranging from physical/mental abuse to negligence.