The parents of Babis Anagnostopoulos, the pilot who killed his wife Caroline in front of their infant daughter in Glyka Nera, finally failed in their attempt to gain custody of their granddaughter Lydia.
Nearly two years after the murder, an Athenian court denied Anagnostopoulos’ parents’ request for custody of the couple’s granddaughter, Lydia, according to The Sun newspaper. The little girl’s Greek grandparents will now have just one hour a week to communicate with the little girl “via Skype or other electronic means,” the court said.
Caroline Crouch family lawyer Thanasis Harmanis said: “This is what we wanted. The little girl will now live peacefully with her aunt (Caroline’s sister) and Grandma Susan in the Philippines. Lydia will be happy there.”
The court’s decision ended the efforts of the Anagnostopoulos family to bring Lydia back to Greece. And it comes after Anagnostopoulos filed an appeal last month asking for a commuted sentence.
Speaking at a court hearing in Athens, Caroline’s father David criticized his son-in-law, saying, “It’s absolutely disgusting that my daughter’s killer is trying to get his prison sentence reduced because of ‘good behavior.’ The crime committed by the murderer, femicide, is a heinous crime that deserves a particularly severe punishment. In my opinion, men who kill their wives for any reason are the lowest of the lowest and are in the same category as pedophiles.”
At the closed trial of the first instance of Athens, the respective statements of the parents of Babis Anagnostopoulos and the parents of Caroline Crouch were discussed on the issue guardianship and communication with their granddaughter Lydia. Caroline’s mother asked to change the time and manner of communication of the baby’s Greek grandparents, as she now lives with her granddaughter in the Philippines. The killer pilot’s parents, in turn, asked that custody of the child be taken away from Caroline’s parents and handed over to them.
“The court is asked to decide whether the child will continue to live in the comfortable and intimate atmosphere of Caroline’s family with her cousins, or whether she should be returned to Greece,” said Thanasis Harmanis, Caroline’s family lawyer. “All efforts are aimed only at the benefit of the child. The court will decide whether the child should grow up in Greece with all the grandparents or in an unknown environment in the Philippines,” said the lawyer of the pilot’s parents, Mr. Skiadas, stressing: “There is a violation. Grandparents and parents of Babis Anagnostopoulos learned about the guardianship (and the removal of Lydia from Greece) “from TV”. If the child had stayed on Alonissos (in Greece), they would not have taken such a step. But since their granddaughter has been taken away, their main goal is to return the child to Greece.”
The psychiatrist Alkistis Igumenaki, who also testified in the court in the case of Caroline’s murder, in his speech outlined the profile of the applicants for the transfer of custody to them with “black colors”. On behalf of the parents of Babis Anagnostopoulos (Lydia’s Greek grandparents), the convicted pilot’s teacher also testified.
More Stories
Greek mafia: photographs of eight arrested released
"Bloody" fountain on May 1
They cut it off or bit it off, but… part of the ear is missing