Cypriot court sees photos of guide's horrific fatal injuries

A Cypriot jury was yesterday shown more than 100 horrific pictures of the battered body of a Danish tour guide allegedly killed by three off-duty British soldiers, writes Steve Boggan.

Hush descended on the courtroom in Larnaca as the pictures of a naked Louise Jensen, her skull smashed open and her face reduced to pulp, were passed among jurors and journalists.

Three soldiers from the 1st Battalion the Royal Green Jackets based at Dhekelia are accused of kidnapping and killing Miss Jensen, 23, on 12 September last year. The prosecution alleges that she was knocked from the motorbike of her boyfriend, Michael Vassiliades, and driven away to be raped and beaten to death with an army spade.

Private Justin Fowler, 26, of Falmouth, Private Alan Ford, 26, of Birmingham, and Private Jeff Parnell, 23, of Oldbury, deny charges of manslaughter, abduction and conspiracy to rape.

The trial continues.