Man jailed for killing Manchester soldier in Cyprus

A man has been jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of a soldier from Manchester in Cyprus.

David Lee Collins, 19, from Manchester, was stabbed to death after a fight broke out in a nightclub in the popular resort of Ayia Napa last November.

Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 20, originally from Somalia but believed to have been living in London, admitted manslaughter at a court hearing in Larnaca on April 22 and returned for sentencing today.

Two other UK teenagers were acquitted of all charges.

Mr Collins, from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was said to have been stationed at an Army base in the Dhekelia area of the island.

He was off duty with three other soldiers when they became involved in a brawl with three British holidaymakers in the early hours of the morning.

He was stabbed the day before he was due to fly out to Afghanistan.

MoD spokeswoman Connie Pierce said the attack took place in an area of the eastern Mediterranean island that British soldiers are told to avoid because of previous incidents.

After the rape and murder of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen by British servicemen in 1994, the centre of Ayia Napa - a clubbing resort with a reputation for sex, drugs and violence - was declared off limits to soldiers by military top brass on the island.

About 3,000 British military personnel are stationed in Cyprus at bases retained after the former British colony gained independence in 1960.

In 2008, nine British soldiers went on trial accused of trashing a pub and beating up its owner during a mass bar brawl on the island.

The servicemen, who were celebrating finishing tours of Iraq and Afghanistan and coming home to the UK, were all acquitted.