A 56-year-old inmate was arrested in the early hours of Sunday while on authorised leave after allegedly being involved in the burglary of a restaurant in Paphos and the theft of around €6,000.

According to the justice ministry, the man had been granted temporary leave to visit his family in Paphos.

Following his arrest, he was taken into custody and is due to appear before the Paphos district court later on Sunday, where police are expected to seek a remand order to facilitate their investigation.

The 56-year-old is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for theft and money laundering.

Having served more than half of his sentence, he had been admitted to the prisons’ rehabilitation programme under which he was granted temporary leave in accordance with prison regulations.

The justice ministry said that, following the man’s arrest, the prison department had immediately launched procedures regarding both the inmate’s participation in the rehabilitation programme and the conditions under which he is serving his sentence.