"Everyone knew about it, and yet this child was not moved," said Kyriaki Ioannou, head nurse of Mental Health Services, before the Nicosia District Court regarding the living conditions of 14-year-old Stylianos Konstantinou.
During today’s hearing, held to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of 14-year-old Stylianos Konstantinou in September 2019, the cross-examination of Ms. Ioannou continued and was concluded; in her capacity as a mental health nurse, she provided support to Stylianos’s mother between 2010 and 2012.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The attorney for Stylianos’s mother (Defendant 2), Angelos Ioannou, during cross-examination, focused on the issue of the mother’s psychological state, and, based on what the witness had stated at a previous hearing—that during the period of their collaboration, the mother had been depressed but was functional, he asked what she meant by “functional.”
The witness said that the mother drove, worked, took the children to school, did basic things around the house, “did a lot of things,” called the social worker, went to the police, and asked for help. Someone who isn’t functional doesn’t do these things, Ms. Ioannou said. She said that the mother was functional and able to handle various roles.
She also said that she does not make psychiatric diagnoses, and that her role was to support a mother who had told her many different things.
When asked by Mr. Ioannou whether there are stages between depression and delusional psychotic depression, the witness answered in the affirmative. When asked whether the mother’s condition was at some intermediate stage, the witness said it was possible, but that she herself was not in a position to diagnose it. In response to another question from the attorney, the witness stated that the mother did not have delusional psychotic depression, and that her depression was related to personality difficulties.
Regarding the problems at school, reference was made to a phone call from the mother to the witness in March 2011, in which she mentioned that the problems were continuing, and that Stylianos would not enter the classroom, would not sit at his desk, would bang his head against the desk, and that some children were bullying him.
In response to a question from Mr. Ioannou, the witness stated that handling incidents of school bullying is the responsibility of the school and the Ministry of Education.
Responding to another question regarding her documentation of the facts of the case, she stated that on December 6, 2011, the mother contacted her and again requested her cooperation. She further stated that the mother said she would think it over but never got back to her. The witness stated that she notified the welfare office to check on the family’s situation, since her own agency only intervenes at the parents’ request.
When asked by the attorney whether this might have been the mother’s last contact with the agency, the witness said that she had left that position after receiving a promotion, but if the mother had contacted the agency again, it would have been recorded in the file.
The representative of the Prosecution asked the witness for clarification regarding her statements during her cross-examination by Mr. Ioannou.
Specifically, she asked her what she meant by her statement that the mother had said “all sorts of things.” The witness said that her mother spoke about the child’s difficulties at school, the situation at home, the arguments with her husband, that he beats her, the serious financial problems they were facing, the dysfunctional home environment, and her personal difficulties managing the household due in part to the long hours she worked at the family’s scrapyard.
She also asked for clarification regarding the help the mother had sought, and the witness said that the mother had gone to the police and filed a report but never filed a formal complaint, and that she had sought help from the school, the relevant agencies, and the community priest.
During his cross-examination, the attorney for the third defendant, a Social Welfare Services (YKE) worker, Viktora Akamas, focused on what information the witness had provided to his client regarding the family’s situation, as well as whether there were any written records of this information.
He pointed out to the witness that she had never informed the social worker that every time she spoke with her mother, her mother told her that her husband was beating her. The witness wondered why, then, the social worker had called her to express concern about the problems the family was facing. She said that the issue of relocating the children had also been raised.
Mr. Akamas asked the witness where there was a written record of any consideration of relocation, to which Ms. Ioannou replied that she had asked the social worker if they were considering relocation and that the social worker had responded that they would look into it.
Mr. Akamas asked the witness why she did not remember to include in her report what she was saying, and that she was presenting inaccuracies to the court. The witness said that because they didn’t know things would come to this today, they didn’t record everything, and that if she had known how Stylianos’s case would end, she would have written volumes. She wondered how she could have known that she would have to record every conversation they had—including what they discussed in private, during encounters in the hallways, about family problems.
He also said that these events took place over 10 years ago and that he is not making any false statements, noting that there was an abusive environment in which a child was living who had reached his breaking point and was crying out through his behavior. “Everyone knew about it, and that child was never removed,” she said. She reiterated that she had played an advisory role, and that she had not lied, nor had she gone there to accuse any of her colleagues. “The bottom line is that everyone knew,” she said. “Including you,” said the lawyer, and she replied in the affirmative.
He also pointed out to the witness that the social worker had never told her that Stylianos was helping out at the scrapyard. The witness said that he wasn’t working like an adult, but was helping out and sweeping, and that the child should have been at the club, studying. When asked, she said she had not seen Stylianos helping out at the scrapyard and that she had been told this by various agencies.
She also said that the social worker knew very well what was happening at home, was concerned, tried to help the mother, and that she herself had a very good and close working relationship with her.
The trial continues on Monday, October 19. The next witnesses will be the police officer who transported Stylianos’s cell phone and Stylianos’s second-grade teacher.
