Greek pilot who killed Brit wife Caroline Crouch drags her family through more pain in court | The Sun

THE Greek pilot who killed his British wife before trying to dupe cops with a web of lies is dragging her grieving family through more agony in court.

Shameless Babis Anagnostopoulos appears to be attempting to play the country's legal system as he tries to shorten his sentence for murdering Caroline Crouch.

The Brit mum, 20, was brutally killed by twisted Babis, 35, in front of their baby at their home in Glyka Nera, Greece, in May 2021.

Warped Babis then unashamedly tried to cover up his evil crime by telling police that Caroline had been killed by a gang during a break-in.

He is now cruelly pouring more pain on Caroline’s devastated family as he refused to even turn up for his appeals court trial on Tuesday.

Brazen Babis arrogantly told judges he was too busy preparing to sit exams to get into law school.

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His lawyer, Alexandros Papaioannidis, also failed to appear – blaming a clash of cases that had forced him to be elsewhere.

In a note sent to the mixed-jury tribunal, Babis said he had appointed Papaioannidis’ assistant to represent him.

But even that turned out to be a ruse when the court learned that the female lawyer had also failed to turn up “because she was ill.”

As tensions mounted in the room, the Crouch family’s mild-mannered lawyer Athanasios Haramanis, lost his composure.

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He shouted: “Nowhere in Europe does this happen. I have travelled to this court five times and only four hours of proceedings have taken place."

Legal insiders said it was clear the pilot is trying to buy time in the hope that public opinion turns in his favour – even if that means upsetting his late wife’s family.

Caroline’s dad David has said he is watching the trial closely in the hope that his despised son-in-law is treated as mercilessly as he was by a lower court last year.

Babis was labelled manipulative and cunning by expert witnesses who attended his first trial.

Judges found him guilty not only of Caroline’s murder – described as “agonising and prolonged” by a coroner –  but also of the killing of her beloved puppy Roxy whose neck the UK-trained aviator also admitted snapping.

Eleni Mylonopoulou, a psychologist who held counselling sessions with Caroline when the young Brit began to fear her marriage was  collapsing, told Greek TV last week she was convinced Babis was a classic case “of an individual with a narcissistic personality disorder.”

'COLD & IMMORAL' 

She said: "For me he is someone who is cold, immoral, has no remorse or a trace of empathy.

"The fact that he has distorted the whole situation, in the way he has, is proof of his manipulative personality."

It was, she added, especially shocking that he would place Lydia next to her mother's lifeless body after he had suffocated her.

The pilot’s legal team, who hope to have his 27-year sentence cut citing "mitigating circumstances", have lined up six witnesses to speak in his defense.

Among them are Babis’ parents and a young Ukrainian woman, described by the Greek media as a journalist and entrepreneur.

The mysterious woman has called Babis' sentence “monstrous and unfair."

Babis' lawyer has not ruled out requesting that Caroline’s dad also be called to the court so that he can be cross-examined.

The retired gas and oil executive, who is wheelchair-bound, has resolutely refused to attend the trial calling it “absurd”.

David, 78, who has already announced he is selling the island villa where Caroline was raised, plans to join her mum, Susan, and three-year-old Lydia, in the Philippines where they recently moved once the proceedings are over.

The appeals court judge ruled Tuesday that the trial would continue on June 1.

Babis is expected to be transferred to Athens from the top-security Malandrinos prison in central Greece where he has been locked up for the past year.

Exiting the court building, Haramanis, the Crouch family lawyer, suggested the pilot was wasting his time studying law.

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He said: "The accused is busting a gut needlessly to get into law school.

"He should be trying to get into drama school because [as an actor] he has talent."

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