‘Odious’ Greek killer is caged
Family pledge to protect baby
THE family of a murdered Briton yesterday welcomed the 27-year jail sentence handed to her ‘odious’ killer husband.
They said Babis Anagnostopoulos, who suffocated Caroline Crouch in front of their infant daughter and then faked a burglary, would never see baby Lydia again.
Miss Crouch’s father David predicted the 34-year-old Greek pilot would become a ‘broken man’ in a notoriously tough jail.
‘No amount of prison time can ever bring back my beautiful daughter but I am just gratified that the court didn’t believe the scurrilous nonsense that he produced during his testimony,’ said Mr Crouch, 79.
‘I am further gratified to know he will serve his time in Korydallos Prison, the toughest prison in Greece which has one of the worst prison systems in Europe.
‘When he completes his sentence, which many people think he might not survive, he will be a changed man, a broken man, far older than his true age.
‘I intend to change Lydia’s name to that of her mother so that she will never be associated with this odious creature. I will ensure he never gets to have any contact with her whatsoever.’
Miss Crouch, 19, was murdered last May in the villa she shared with Anagnostopoulos. Afterpet wards he tied himself up and told police it was the fault of Albanian criminals. He was given 16 years for killing his wife, and 11-and-a-half years for killing their dog and perverting the course of justice. The helicopter pilot said he killed the family to make his story about home invaders more plausible.
Athanasios Harmanis, the Crouch family’s lawyer, said: ‘It was a heinous crime – he held down the woman he said was the love of his life for five minutes while she struggled in his hands but he did not stop until she was dead.’
Anagnostopoulos begged for a reduced sentence, arguing the murder was a ‘crime of passion’ committed after Miss Crouch had refused to apologise for pushing their then 11-month-old daughter off her bed.
‘He will be a broken man’