Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Merrifield

Inside Caroline Crouch killer's new prison housing Greece's 'most hardened' criminals

Tragic mum Caroline Crouch's killer husband has reportedly been transferred to a new prison full of brutal thugs after being attacked by a fellow inmate.

Babis Anagnostopoulos was jailed for life last month for the murder of his British wife, 20, in front of their 11-month-old daughter at the home their shared in Athens, Greece.

The 34-year-old was first sent to a notorious prison in the capital but his lawyer has said he was soon beaten up as an act of revenge.

The helicopter pilot tortured and suffocated expat Caroline before staging a robbery and hanging her beloved husky puppy Roxy.

He then initially blamed a gang of Albanians or Georgians, who he said had tied him up.

Convicted felons of both nationalities were even identified by him during police line-ups and hauled away for questioning.

Anagnostopoulos has been transferred to Malandrinos prison which houses hundreds of hardened criminals (NurPhoto/PA Images)

His web of lies eventually broke apart, however, and he was convicted - and it is now understood a Georgian man whose friend had been arrested as a suspect in the killing wanted payback.

Lawyer Alexandros Papaioannidis said prison guards were able to step in and stop the attack on Anagnostopoulos with the inmate saying he had come from another prison to kill him.

As a result, Anagnostopoulos was moved from Korydallos prison to Malandrinos prison, 250 miles away in central Greece which houses "around 900 hardened criminals and is very hard", the lawyer added.

Anagnostopoulos has been moved to the brutal high-security prison in Malandrino (AFP via Getty Images)

Referring to the attack, one police insider told The Sun : “Time has caught up with him and his lies.

“It’s payback for Agnagnostopoulos.”

Prior to his trial, the dad-of-one had been held in a posh suite for months as he planned his defence, and read up on law.

Papaioannidis said his client is "very worried", with the new prison housing some of the country's worst criminals, and many are Albanians and Georgians.

Malandrino is said to hold 900 of the most dangerous criminals (AFP via Getty Images)

Anagnostopoulos was placed in a single cell on his transferral to Malandrinos on Monday for a 72-hour Covid isolation period.

But is now understood to have been moved into the main body of the facility where he will be sharing with at least one other person.

“Psychologically he is in a very bad way. He feels very badly because of the loss of his wife," said Papaioannidis.

Anagnostopoulos has been in a single cell due to Covid isolation rules but will now be put into the main body of the prison (AFP via Getty Images)

The lawyer also told the Daily Mail it will be difficult for his family to visit him as the prison is so far from Athens and there is "very little possibility" of seeing his daughter.

"To be honest he and myself wanted him to stay in Korydallos because despite what happened we feel that it is the safest place for him," he continued.

"Malandrinio has many inmates convicted of terrible crimes, Korydallos was the lesser of two evils."

A written request had been made for the killer to be returned to the first facility.

Caroline in front of her baby (ᴄᴀʀᴏʟɪɴᴇ ᴄʀᴏᴜᴄʜ/Instagram)
Helicopter pilot Anagnostopoulos claimed in court it was a crime of passion and not premeditated (Babis Anagnostopoulos/Instagram)

Anagnostopoulos had admitted manslaughter and had attempted to make the killing look like a "crime of passion" during his trial, but jurors thought otherwise.

A document put forward to the prosecutor on June 1 says: "My possible transfer to another Detention Center, implies that it will mean with absolute certainty my position at risk, with a threat to my physical integrity and my own life.

"The above is not reinforced by the fact that the case for which I am accused concerns the media and the public, reinforcing the feeling of killing me and even my inmates."

He was also referred to as a "model prisoner" who acts as a mediator when other inmates are fighting.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.