LARNACA —
A teenager from London was jailed for eight years in Cyprus on Friday for fatally stabbing an off-duty British soldier at a holiday resort on the island last year.
Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, died from knife wounds after a fight broke out in the resort of Ayia Napa in November.
Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Charges against two other men arrested with him were dropped in a plea bargain.
Osman and Collins were part of two groups who were arguing in a nightclub when Osman pulled out a knife and stabbed Collins in the chest. A bouncer had ushered the two out of the premises when Collins collapsed.
Manslaughter carries up to life in prison under Cypriot law.
Cyprus's criminal court said it acknowledged there had been a provocation which mitigated the offense to a degree “however we cannot overlook this criminal act which led to the death of a nineteen year old man”, the court said in its verdict.
Collins' mother was present for the verdict. She sobbed silently as the court read out the post-mortem report that her son died of a ruptured heart caused by a sharp instrument. Osman's parents sat silently on the other side of the courtroom.
The nightclub is in an area which is out of bounds to British soldiers. Britain has two military bases on Cyprus.
Fusilier David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, died from knife wounds after a fight broke out in the resort of Ayia Napa in November.
Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Charges against two other men arrested with him were dropped in a plea bargain.
Osman and Collins were part of two groups who were arguing in a nightclub when Osman pulled out a knife and stabbed Collins in the chest. A bouncer had ushered the two out of the premises when Collins collapsed.
Manslaughter carries up to life in prison under Cypriot law.
Cyprus's criminal court said it acknowledged there had been a provocation which mitigated the offense to a degree “however we cannot overlook this criminal act which led to the death of a nineteen year old man”, the court said in its verdict.
Collins' mother was present for the verdict. She sobbed silently as the court read out the post-mortem report that her son died of a ruptured heart caused by a sharp instrument. Osman's parents sat silently on the other side of the courtroom.
The nightclub is in an area which is out of bounds to British soldiers. Britain has two military bases on Cyprus.
