Officer handed 18 months for commando’s helicopter jump death

Commando squadron officer Marinos Ioannou was handed an 18-month prison sentence on Monday without suspension, for the death of 27-year-old soldier Panayiotis Yiannios, who was critically injured during a helicopter training exercise in June 2022.

Ioannou was responsible for the helicopter drop and was found guilty on June 10 by the Nicosia military court of causing death due to a reckless or dangerous act.

Yiannios had jumped from a helicopter, at a height of about eight metres...