The dad of a British woman murdered by her husband says he dreads the day he will have to tell her daughter about how she died.
British-born Caroline Crouch, 19, was killed by her husband Babis Anagnostopoulos at their family home in Glyka Nera, near Athens, Greece.
Babis Anagnostopoulos strangled Caroline as she slept next to their baby, Lydia.
He then went on to hang her beloved husky dog Roxy from the bannister and tie himself up with duct tape, in an attempt to fake a robbery to cover up his crime.
For 37 days he played the role of grieving husband as he played along with the police and Caroline's family, thinking he had gotten away with murder, until he was arrested.
During the five-week trial, he admitted to killing Caroline "in the heat of the moment” in the early hours of May 11 2021, after she had asked him for a divorce.
This week, Anagnostopoulos, 34, was sentenced to 27 years behind bars for killing his young wife, hanging the family's dog and perverting the course of justice.
Caroline's parents David and his wife Susan, who are raising Lydia at their home on the Greek island of Alonnisos, where Caroline also grew up, say they have decided to remove all trace of Anagnostopoulos from the little girl's life.
They have changed her last name and are doing everything they can to make sure he never sees her again.
He told the Daily Mail : "Someday, Lydia is going to ask where her mother is; it is a day that I am dreading. She has to know and no amount of hedging around the subject is going to work.
"One day she will find out the unvarnished truth, so it is far better that she learns it from her loving grandparents than pieces it together bit by bit."
The family court in Greece granted the Crouches sole care of Lydia last October but stated that the paternal grandparents could visit up to five times a month.
At first, David accepted the visit of Anagnostopoulos’ parents but now refuses to see them as they still maintain their son is innocent.
He said: "I can’t control the hatred that I have for their son, and their belief that he is innocent and just covering up for someone — even though he has been convicted of premeditated murder — makes it impossible for them to offer any kind of apology."
He said it is a small consolation that Anagnostopoulos was locked away in Korydallos prison with fellow murderers.
