MP to intervene following Cypriot conviction of Witham residents

Brooks Newmark is seeking a meeting with the Cypriot High Commissioner to the United Kingdom following the conviction of two Witham residents for conspiracy to commit manslaughter and grievous bodily harm by the Cypriot Supreme Court. Braintree MP Brooks Newmark is seeking a meeting with the Cypriot High Commissioner to the United Kingdom following the conviction of two Witham residents, Luke Atkinson and Michael Binnington, for conspiracy to commit manslaughter and grievous bodily harm by the Cypriot Supreme Court.

The two men were passengers in a car driven by their uncle, Julian Harrington, which hit a moped, killing its driver and seriously wounding its passenger. The two men were acquitted by a lower court last year but the decision has been overturned following an appeal by Cypriot prosecutors. Fair Trials International has asked Mr. Newmark to intervene on behalf of the two men before their sentencing hearing in March.

Mr. Newmark said, "I am very concerned to hear of the latest development in this case. The Cypriot appeal court had the power to order a retrial if it believed that the verdict was unsafe but chose instead to overturn the acquittal.

To my mind these two men stand in a very different position to Mr. Harrington himself because they were merely passengers in the car when this tragedy occurred. Mr. Harrington has admitted his guilt and I understand that one of his reasons for doing so was to make sure that his co-defendants were acquitted."

Mr. Newmark has written to Mr Dimitris Hatziargyrou, the Cypriot Acting High Commissioner to the UK, to request a meeting to discuss the case. He also intends to write to the Cypriot court to press for leniency in sentencing the two men.

He said, "Because there is no right of appeal to a higher court in Cyprus the only way of improving the outcome of this case for Mr. Atkinson and Mr. Binnington is to ask for leniency, given their personal circumstances and the fact that the evidence against them appears to be wholly circumstantial.