The father of a British teen who was brutally murdered by her husband says he is moving to the Philippines to raise her child.
Caroline Crouch was just 19 years old when she was tortured and suffocated with a pillow by 33-year-old Babis Anagnostopoulos at their Athens home back in 2021.
Anagnostopoulos is currently serving two-decade life sentence after being convicted last year of the murder, which he carried out in front of their 11-month-old daughter Lydia.
Investigators found he staged a robbery and even hanged the couple's dog Roxy in a bid to cover his tracks, before later admitting to the killing in court.
Caroline's father David, 79, has now revealed he will now look after their daughter in the Philippines, as he wants her to be brought up as far away from her murderer father as possible.
The Liverpool-born former engineer told the Mail Online: "My only duty now is to look after her daughter, Lydia, who is now without both a mother and a father, and ensure that she is brought up as her mother would have brought her up.
"I can only do this in the Philippines, far away from the malignant presence of her father."
Lydia is currently being looked after in the country by her mother's step-sister, who she is said to call her 'mom'.
As he prepares to join her, David is now selling his house on the Greek island of Alonnisos, where he has lived for the past 20 years with his Filipino wife.
Caroline was born and raised in Greece, and would eventually marry Anagnostopoulos just two years before her tragic death in May 2021.
In February, David hit out at the murderer's appeals for a reduced sentence over the “heinous crime”.
David Crouch reportedly 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."
Anagnostopoulos’ legal team are arguing that mitigating circumstances were not taken into consideration during his trial and that he was acting in the “heat of the moment” during a row over their daughter because “Caroline had pushed Lydia away”, it is reported.
