The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Landowner asks police to halt search for Ben
Greece: Concerns over possible ancient tombs
Police searching for missing toddler Ben Needham have been asked to stop by the owner of the site.
Detectives said they were approached by the owner of the farmland currently being scoured for clues on the Greek holiday island of Kos, about the discovery of suspected ancient tombs there.
Forensic specialists and an archaeologist have been combing an arid stretch of farmland where 21-monthold Ben was playing a quarter of a century ago.
The excavation began afternewevidencewasfound that the Sheffield toddler may have been killed and buried there, yards from where he vanished while his grandfather was renovating a property.
But officers said their investigation was continuing despite the worries of the landowner, as they had not been contacted by a magistrate. South Yorkshire Police’s Detective Inspector Jon Cousins: “I was approached on September 29 by Mr Troumouchis, the owner of the land on which we are conducting the search.
“He raised with me concerns about the discovery of what appear to be ancient tombs. So far I have not had any contact from the magistrate to say that wemuststop. My priority is to ensure that disruption to the operation thatmy team are running remains at an absoluteminimum. Ifmagistrates’ permission is withdrawn, it will be my intention to seek immediate judicial authority to search this area of land.”
A 19-strong team from South Yorkshire Police was sent to the island to investigate claims the toddler might have been killed by a digger driver working on the 2.5-acre site.
Ben’s mother, Kerry Needham, had been warned to “prepare for the worst”.
Konstantinos Barkas was clearing land with an excavator close to where the youngster was playing on the day he vanished and may be responsible for his death, a friend of the builder reportedly told police following a TV appeal in May.
The driver reportedly died of stomach cancer last year.