Extradited pair in solitary cells

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Two cousins from Essex extradited to Cyprus over the death of a teenager are being held in solitary confinement for their own safety, their lawyer says.

Michael Binnington, 23, and Luke Atkinson, 24, from Witham, were flown to Cyprus on Tuesday where they started three-year jail terms for manslaughter.

The men were in a car which hit a moped, killing pillion passenger Christos Papiris, 17, in 2006.

Their lawyer Karen Todner said British officials had visited the pair.

Staff from the British High Commission visited them at Nicosia Central Prison earlier.

'Separate wing'

Ms Todner said: "I got an email from the British High Commission saying they are OK and they are both in solitary confinement.

"When they were on remand, they were put in a separate wing because there is a lot of strong feeling locally about the case.

"I am not really surprised they are being held in solitary confinement."

Atkinson's uncle Julian Harrington, also from Witham, is serving 15 years after admitting manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.

He was driving the car which hit Mr Papiris.

Binnington and Atkinson were sentenced in their absence by the Supreme Court of Cyprus in 2008.

They were initially acquitted by a Cypriot court in February 2007, but that verdict was overturned by the higher court in January last year after they returned to the UK.