‘Intensely selfish’ driver jailed for death of five-year-old girl

By Evie Andreou

The Larnaca district court on Friday sentenced 35-year-old Penchev Milen Stefanov to 2.5 years in prison after being found guilty of causing a fatal road accident last month that led to the death of five-year-old Maria Christina Demetriou while he was driving under the influence of drugs.

Stefanov pleaded guilty earlier in the month of causing death by negligence, driving under the influence of drugs, and driving with expired road tax.

He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, deprivation of his driving licence for four years, and 10 penalty points on his driver’s licence.

Stefanov was arrested after the accident, which happened on June 25, after it emerged he had taken heroin and had fallen asleep at the wheel.

The accident occurred near Avdelero on the motorway between Rizoelia and Ayia Napa, when the car driven by the 35-year-old hit the back of the girl’s family’s twin cab pickup causing the father to lose control of the vehicle which overturned. The girl’s three-year-old brother and her mother were both seriously injured in the accident.

Stefanov told officers following his arrest that he was being treated by a psychiatrist and was taking medicines. He said he had fallen asleep before the violent collision and woke up after his car came to a standstill some 200 metres down the road.

The 35-year-old had expressed “sorrow, pain and regret” when he was informed of the death of the girl, the court said.

Referring to the personal circumstances of the accused, the president of the court said he began using cannabis at the age of 13 and heroin at 17, but in recent years he was clean. When he relapsed at the beginning of 2018, he sought help and joined a rehabilitation programme.

She said that the 35-year-old was also taking, among other things, anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs and had used heroin just days before the accident. Blood tests following the accident showed in his blood of substances suggestive of heroin use.

Stefanov, the court said, on that day, was on his way to see his psychiatrist to discuss the side effects of the drugs, amongst other things because he felt drowsy, but as he had lost the exit to Oroklini where the doctor’s office was, he drove on to the Rizoelia roundabout to turn back.

The court said that the accused should not have driven while under the influence of drugs and ought to pull over as soon as he felt drowsy.

“The accident was due to acts and omissions of the accused, who demonstrated intensely selfish behaviour,” court said, adding that had he not shown indifference to what he knew could happen, the accident could be avoided.

“In a split of a second, Maria Christina Demetriou lost her life, which this tragic ending could have been so easily avoided,” it said.

It also said that it has taken into consideration his cooperation with the authorities, that he pleaded guilty to his charges, that he is facing psychological problems, that he is addicted to narcotic substances, and his clean criminal record.