Social welfare services should have taken custody, at least temporarily, of a teenager who ended up taking his own life in 2019, a witness told Nicosia district court on Monday.

Independent criminal investigator Andreou Andreou was testifying in the case concerning the suicide of 14-year-old Stylianos Constantinou.

The case relates to alleged ongoing domestic violence by the boy’s father, the mother’s role in reporting these incidents to authorities, and the role played by the social welfare services and the police.

In May, two defendants – welfare officers – pleaded guilty to charges and received suspended prison sentences.

In court on Monday, Andreou was being cross-examined by the attorney of the third defendant, also a social welfare officer.

Asked whether there had been any direct evidence of the teenager having bodily injuries from violence, Andreou said no. There were no medical reports to that effect.

But, he noted, there had been multiple reports that Stylianos showed up at school with bruises. The boy had claimed he was beaten with a belt, saying his father would “beat him like a dog” at the family-owned farm.

The social welfare officer in the dock used to be in charge of Stylianos’ file.

Her logs, which Andreou reviewed, made no explicit reference to the teen being in imminent danger.

“I’m not saying that no action whatsoever was taken,” the witness stated. “But neither a proper investigation was made, nor the appropriate direct action taken.”

Some incidents of alleged violence appear not to have been relayed to the police.

Under the manual, whenever welfare officers have reason to believe that domestic violence takes place, they must report the matter to the police.

“What led me and Mr Poyadjis [the other criminal investigator] to recommend potential commission of specific criminal offences,” went on Andreou, “was that from kindergarten right up to second grade in high school, whatever happened to protect Stylianos appears not to have been enough.

“The situation was out of control.”

He added: “Had Stylianos been removed from his parents, perhaps today he might still be alive. I believe that, under the circumstances, and based on the information we had in 2010-2012, Stylianos should have been placed in the care of the social welfare services, even for a brief amount of time, to ensure his protection.”

Elsewhere in his testimony, Andreou again referred to the defendant’s log. During a visit to the family residence, the welfare officer in question had reported seeing an assembled shotgun on a bed. In another log, she had mentioned that Stylianos’ father once went to the boy’s school taking the gun with him.

All this, said the witness, in conjunction with other information in the boy’s file, should have prodded the social welfare services to “act directly” – which they did not.

The defendant’s lawyer next cited policy at the time, according to which taking a child away from their parents was the “last resort”.

While agreeing this was the policy, Andreou said it wasn’t necessarily the correct one.

The trial continues on Tuesday.