Major update in Caroline Crouch case as killer husband’s parents set to testify in son’s shameless bid to cut jail term
CAROLINE Crouch’s killer husband has persuaded his parents to testify in his defence in a shameless bid to reduce his jail sentence.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, 35, was jailed for life for murdering the Brit mum, 20, in front of their baby at their home in Glyka Nera, Greece, in May 2021.
The twisted killer was sent to maximum security prison Korydallos after being found guilty of strangling Caroline to death and killing her beloved dog before faking a botched break-in.
Nearly two years after Caroline was killed, The Sun has learned that Babis has lined up six witnesses to testify before an appeals court in Athens as he tries to reduce his prison term.
Appearing in court on Monday, the pilot took the unprecedented step of apologising to Caroline’s family for what he had done.
“I regret what I did,” he told the court.
“I want to apologise to Caroline’s parents. I never wanted to harm my family.”
The apparent show of remorse is aimed at convincing the court that the murder of Caroline was not premeditated and instead he acted in the “heat of the moment”.
But for 37 days, shameless Babis claimed ruthless robbers had broken into the couple’s home in Athens and strangling Crouch as she slept next to their baby daughter.
He even killed the family’s adopted dog, Roxy, to make the crime look realistic.
On May 16 last year, he was handed a 27-year prison term.
Under a new law, he was also ordered to spend ten years behind bars for killing Roxy.
The puppy was discovered by police dangling from the bannister in their home.
Speaking in court on Monday, the two cops who made the discovery described Babis as “a very good actor”.
They told judges they believed the crime had been premeditated.
But Babis’ legal team argue no mitigating circumstances were taken into account in the previous trial.
Babis is now getting his parents and another four witnesses to take the stand in his defence during his appeal hearing.
Ahead of the hearing, his defence lawyer Alexandros Papaioannides said: “There are going to be quite a lot of new witnesses and documents that will contain elements that will help reverse this case.
“I think there will be a more correct assessment [by the court] of the circumstances that prevailed that day in regards to the crime he committed and whether it was committed in the heat of the moment.”
Back in February, Caroline’s ‘s devastated dad David Crouch blasted Babis’ appeal to get his sentence reduced as “absolutely despicable”.
He told Greek media: “It is absolutely despicable that my daughter’s killer is trying to get his prison sentence reduced because of his ‘good behaviour.’
“The crime committed by the murderer, that of femicide, is a heinous crime that should deserve particularly severe punishment.
“In my opinion, men who kill their wives, for whatever reason, are the lowest of the low, ranking alongside paedophiles.
“I think it will be a sad day for women when the murderer of a defenceless woman who slept with her child will serve less than his full prison sentence. This man is beyond contempt.”