The factors that may have influenced Stylianos’s behavior from childhood onward, before he took his own life at the age of just 14, as well as on how that behavior was managed during his time in kindergarten, on Monday during the trial being heard before the Nicosia District Court.

The case concerns the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Konstantinou, with the Court examining potential liability both within the family and on the part of government agencies. During Monday’s hearing, the cross-examination of the witness—who was Stylianos’s kindergarten teacher during the 2009–2010 school year—continued and was concluded.

During cross-examination, the defense attorney for Defendant 2, the minor’s mother, argued that his client suffers from bipolar disorder, a mental illness that her mother also suffered from, noting that this illness causes her to present imagined events as facts. The defense attorney asked whether the teacher had observed that Stylianos also suffered from similar mental health issues, to which the witness replied that she had not noticed anything of the sort.

The witness was asked about the impression she had formed of Stylianos’s mother and replied that the impression she gave was that she was burdened by the work on the farm and her concernsfor her children. She stated, however, that she was unaware of the mental health issues mentioned by the defense attorney.

The defense attorney suggested to the witness that Stylianos’s violent and aggressive behavior could be due to factors other than his experiences in the family environment. The witness replied that there could be other factors, but noted that she considered the family environment to be the main factor, adding that such violent behavior could only be explained by exposure to violence within the family. She stated that she had no reason to believe that the incidents reported to her were not true.

Viktoras Akamas, defense counsel for Defendant 3, a YKE employee, took the floor during the cross-examination of the teacher, focused primarily on when and how the kindergarten teacher took the initiative to address the problems she had identified in the behavior of Stylianos, who was five years old at the time.

When asked whether she had reported the problem to her superiors or to an educational psychologist, the defense attorney argued that the kindergarten teacher did not take an early interest in making the necessary reports regarding what she stated in her testimony she had observed in the minor’s behavior, which she herself attributed to the family environment. The teacher replied that she had been informed after November 2009 about the problems Stylianos was facing and that she had contacted the District Committee on Special Education and Trainingaround February–March 2010.

The defense attorney then referred to the Ministry of Education’s handbook on incident management, from which he read that a violence prevention team should be formed by the principal, the preschool teacher, a psychologist, and a counselor whenever cases of children suffering are identified, noting that the witness held a dual role as both principal and kindergarten teacher. When questioned, the witness replied that at the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year-2010, no team was formed because the incidents she had initially been informed about, as she stated, concerned the previous school year, which had ended months earlier.

In this context, the defense attorney suggested to the witness that she had failed to properly perform her duties in connection with a case of violence that affected the student, prompting the prosecution to object, noting that this submission did not pertain to issues at issue against the defendants. Subsequently, the Presiding Judge did not allow the submission regarding the kindergarten teacher’s dereliction of duty.

Subsequently, referring to the minutes of the meeting of the multidisciplinary evaluation team formed in March 2010 to address Stylianos’s case, the same defense attorney asked the witness why she did not agree with the recommendation that Stylianos remain in preschool for another year, rather than moving on to elementary school. The witness stated that she believed he would find a more supportive environment in elementary school, with an aide and speech therapy services, whereas the preschool had nothing more to offer.

The defense attorney, reading from the minutes, noted that the kindergarten teacher had expressed fear and was concerned that she would not be able to control Stylianos’s behavior, while also noting that the multidisciplinary team had decided to provide special education and speech therapy and was considering assigning a school aide and suspending the minor’s enrollment.

In response, the witness admitted that she had safety concerns due to Stylianos’s behavior and noted that the incidents she had dealt with during the year went beyond the typical duties of a teacher.

For example, at various points during cross-examination, the witness stated that when she told Stylianos not to hit anyone, he replied, “I’d rather die than let you get away with it,” and she also mentioned hearing the phrases “I’ll mess with you” or “I’ll put you in jail,” which she attributed to his family environment, as she explained. She insisted, however, that she did everything she could to handle the situation.

Furthermore, in response to a question from the next defense attorney, she stated that she had been in regular contact with two of her superiors regarding the matter, and that she had contacted the Welfare Office, which informed her that its staff were monitoring the family. Her defense attorney argued that she should have made more systematic efforts to speak with Stylianos, although she herself said that despite her attempts, the student would not open up.

Upon completion of the kindergarten teacher’s cross-examination, the prosecution announced that it would call the next prosecution witness tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

Source: CNA