Frank and Joan's news for 29 August 2006 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

Things are getting serious in the Gary Robb affair.

That Was Close 27/08/2006

Attackers bombed and burnt down Gary Robb's next door neighbours house by mistake

Gary Robb escaped the attack just because he sent his cars to a nearby petrol station to be washed the previous day.

GARY John Robb's next door neighbour's house was bombed and burnt down by unidentified men who obviously took the identical house mistakenly for Robb's.

The house right next to Mr Robb's was burnt down in the early hours of Saturday around 5,00 AM causing horror in the neighbourhood that Gary Robb and his now terrified neighbours live. The residents on Marmara Street in Catalkoy woke up in the early hours of Saturday with a huge explosion and flames followed by the sirens of the Girne Fire Brigade who were promptly on the scene. The house that was attacked belonged to a prominent Lawyer Mr Ismet Izer who owned identical cars as Gary Robb.

A BMW Saloon type car and a BMW X3 4X4 belonging to

Mr Izer were completely destroyed in the attack.

It is believed that the attackers mistakenly attacked the house next door to Gary Robb's due to the coincidence that Gary had the exact two same vehicles normally parked in his driveway.

Gary Robb told Cyprus times that he dropped of his BMW Saloon and his X3 4X4, which his mother normally drives to a nearby petrol station to be washed the previous evening and was due to pick them up the next morning.

This information strengthened the possibility to a point where it is nearly certain that the perpetrators of the attack were led to believe that the house that they bombed and burnt down belonged to Gary Robb due to the car similarity.

In the meantime the time that they chose to attack the house thinking that it belonged to Gary indicating that the attackers or those who influenced them wanted to make sure that Gary Robb was at home at the time of the attack.

"The very early morning bombing and arson was obviously aimed to kill Gary Robb therefore the police should take this case very seriously and treat it as an attempt on Gary Robb and his family's life" said a criminology expert speaking to Cyprus Times.

"After Tahir Soycan was arrested and remanded for nearly a fortnight for fraudulently stealing Gary Robb's money and property, an attack of this nature was expected" he added.

In the meantime after his return Gary Robb had requested Police patrol around his home after recieving various threats. The police had been patrolling the area at various hours. The police officers who participated in the patrol signed a log book stating the time they had arrived and inspected the area. According to the book that the Cyprus Times has seen no police officers had been patrolling Gary Robb's neighbourhood since the 2nd of August. This triggered another argument over the polices capacity of protecting prominent people who have been threatened by others and have concerns about their safety.

© Copyright Cyprus Times 2006