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Parents of Dartford stab victim George Low attend inquest in Cyprus

09:58, 03 December 2018

updated: 17:06, 03 December 2018

An inquest into the death of a man who was killed while on holiday in Cyprus has been attended by his parents.

George Low, 22 was fatally stabbed in Ayia Napa in August 2016 and an inquest into his death was held in the town of Paralimni on Friday.

His mum and dad, Helen and Martyn Low flew out to the country to hear details of how their son died.

George Low
George Low

Meanwhile, the MP for Dartford, Gareth Johnson has also spoken out to say more needs to be done by the Cypriot authorities to try and bring Mr Low's killer to justice.

Mr Low was killed near a nightclub in the clubbing capital of Cyprus on August 14.

His friend, Ben Barker, also 22, was also stabbed and seriously injured but he survived the vicious attack.

His parents spoke out to the BBC before they left their home in Ladywood Road, Darenth and said they had many questions they needed answered about how their son died.

Mrs Low said: "All we know is George was stabbed and he died from those injuries.

"We don’t know any details but I think we need to hear them to help us.”

George Low pictured hours before the stabbings
George Low pictured hours before the stabbings

Despite there being at least two suspects for Mr Low's murder, no one has ever been charged or even arrested for the crimes.

The two suspects, Mehmet Akpinar, 22 and Salih Ahmed 43, fled to North Cyprus after the incidents.

They were both arrested for crossing the border illegally through a military zone and Akpinar was sentenced to three weeks in jail and was then deported to Turkey.

Salih was charged with trespass and using a fake ID card and he served 10 months and was then taken back to Turkey.

Both men are free and are believed to be living in Turkey.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson
Dartford MP Gareth Johnson

Gareth Johnson, flew out to Cyprus in September in the hope he could get answers about Mr Low's murder and the attempted murder of Mr Barker.

This week he said: "George’s family have had to wait more than two years to witness the inquest into what happened on the night he was murdered.

“Losing their son was clearly awful for them and this has been made worse by the fact that those responsible have been able to get away with their terrible crime.

“More must be done by the Cypriot authorities to ensure the men responsible for this horrific crime are brought to justice.”

Mr Low’s family issued a petition to both the UK and EU parliaments and to Prime Minister, Theresa May, to pressure Turkey to hand over the two suspects.

The judge who presided over the inquest is expected to issue his findings in the future, no date for this has been set.

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