Cyprus road death stories 'clash'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/essex/6124644.stm

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Three British tourists accused of ramming a moped and killing the Cypriot rider, gave police conflicting stories, a court on the island has heard.

Julian Harrington, 38, Luke Atkinson, 22, and Michael Binnington, 21, are accused of deliberately hitting the youths with their hire car in August.

Mr Atkinson told police the men had been chasing the moped, which the others denied, the Larnaca court heard.

The men, from Essex, deny manslaughter and grievous bodily harm with intent.

'Revenge attack'

Christos Papiris, 17, died after his moped was involved in a crash with a car on a road between Ayia Napa and Protaras early on 18 August.

Marios Demetriou, 18, who was his pillion passenger, was seriously injured.

According to prosecutors, the moped was "repeatedly struck" by a rented Opel driven by Mr Harrington.

Police said it was a revenge attack following a fight outside a Protaras disco in which a friend of the accused was beaten up.

Christos Papiris died when his bike was involved in a collision

According to Mr Atkinson's statement, which was read out in court, Mr Harrington later saw two motorbikes going past him and decided to give chase, shouting: "Let's get them."

Mr Atkinson, who is Mr Harrington's nephew and Mr Binnington's cousin, told police: "Julian drove the car and crashed into one motorbike two times."

His statement added that the car had been being driven in reverse before hitting the moped because the bike had turned round.

Mr Harrington, however, told police he had hit the scooter by accident, had not seen anyone fall off and had feared he was the one being chased.

'Escape attempt'

His statement said: "I heard a bang on my left side mirror but I didn't see anything or anyone... I was afraid we were under attack and I sped away.

"I want to say when I heard the bang... I didn't see any motorbike crashing in front of me... I did not kill anyone... It was not my fault."

Mr Binnington's statement seemed to back his uncle's, saying two bikes, carrying two people each "moved in front of us".

He said the front left corner of the car hit the rear of the moped which caused the biker and his passenger to "fall off".

"That was done in order to escape them all," he said.

The three Britons had arrived on the island for a holiday the day before the incident. They face life imprisonment if convicted.

The trial continues.