A 42-year-old man who assaulted a state prosecutor inside the Limassol criminal court after being sentenced in a kidnapping case was handed an additional four-year prison term on Tuesday, with the sentence to run consecutively to his existing jail term.

The defendant faced a single charge of causing grievous bodily harm under Article 231 of the Criminal Code, an offence carrying a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.

The attack took place on April 3 moments after the same criminal court sentenced him to four years in prison for abducting a former partner.

As the judges left the courtroom, the defendant shouted from the dock, “Four years for two slaps?” before launching himself at the state prosecutor while being escorted away by officers.

The prosecutor suffered a fractured nose and swelling to her upper lip during the assault.

She was taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment while police officers restrained the attacker inside the courtroom.

The latest sentence will begin once the defendant completes the four-year prison term already imposed in the kidnapping case.

The court also ruled that one month spent in pre-trial detention in connection with the assault case would be deducted from the new sentence.

During proceedings, defence counsel told the court the defendant wished to express remorse for the attack.

In a statement submitted through his lawyer, the defendant wrote, “I have regretted my actions and I apologise. I was not myself. I know there is no excuse for what I did.”

Attorney-general George Savvides condemned the incident immediately after the attack and ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the security breach.

“I want to unequivocally condemn this cowardly attack on an officer of the law, a colleague of mine, and a prosecutor,” he said following the incident.

Savvides also described the courtroom assault as the third recent attack targeting officials linked to the Legal Service, referring to earlier bomb and arson incidents in Paphos.

He warned that prosecutors were increasingly being targeted “simply for doing their jobs”.