Soldier held over fatal hit-and-run at Cyprus base

A SOLDIER has been arrested in connection with the hit-and-run death of an infantryman on a British base.

Corporal John Fernandez, 32, was hit by a car and killed in the sovereign base area in Dhekelia, Cyprus, on Saturday.

The car, which was not a military vehicle, then left the scene, according to an Army source.

The Royal Military Police is investigating, and the Ministry of Defence confirmed that a member of the British military had been arrested.

Corporal Fernandez, of the 2nd Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, had recently been nominated for a commendation for his actions during an explosive attack at the base last month. His senior officer Lieutenant Colonel James Skelton said Corporal Fernandez was ‘the finest of men’, adding: ‘He stood out from his peers as an exemplary infantry soldier, a leader and a servant to his soldiers.’