Sara gets four years in Strovolos case

The female defendant in the Strovolos double murder case has been sentenced to four years, after all but one charges were dropped following a plea bargain.

Sara Shams, aged 22, was handed down a four year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary. She received the sentence after her new lawyer took over her defence and struck a deal for his client to testify for the prosecution against the main suspect.

The main suspect in the case, 33-year-old Loizos Tzionis, has denied all charges including murder and burglary.

Siams had a relationship with Tzionis, whom she described as abusive and overbearing. The court appeared sympathetic to the young woman’s story, who had a clean record and was “ready to move on” according to her lawyer. But legal experts said the sentencing was not unexpected given the seriousness of the case.

Tzionis, along with his 23-year-old half brother Lefteris Solomou and another 22-year-old male, Marios Hadjixenofondos, have all denied all charges in the double murder of a married couple in Strovolos, 60-year-old Yiorgos Hadjigeorgiou and his 59-year-old wife Dina Sergiou, who were savagely stabbed to death on April 18.

Tzionis also lost an appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, after the presiding judge found his request for judicial review without merit.

The main suspect had argued that his rights and presumption of innocence were violated when a second autopsy was ordered unlawfully.

The criminal trial resumed on Thursday.