The Court of Appeal in Cyprus has revised the sentence of a driver who hit and left a cyclist on the road

On September 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal in Cyprus revoked the suspension of imprisonment and imposed an immediate sentence of 10 months in prison on a driver who fatally struck a 25-year-old cyclist in Aglantzia in 2022.

Initially, the Nicosia District Court had sentenced the defendant to a suspended three-year prison term. The appeal, filed by the Attorney General of the Republic, was upheld on the first ground: the appellate panel ruled that the lower court’s decision to suspend the sentence was erroneous and pointed to an underestimation of the seriousness of the crimes and the circumstances of the case.

The court stressed that, according to precedent, strict penalties must be imposed for leaving the scene of a traffic accident and that suspension of sentence is not a standard measure in such cases. On the second ground raised by the Attorney General, concerning the allegedly insufficient length of the concurrent sentences (10 months for each offense), the appeal was dismissed.

The appeal case was handled by state prosecutor Sotiroula Michail.