Caroline Crouch’s baby handed from killer husband’s mum to her devastated parents – World News

Caroline Crouch’s heartbroken parents have won custody of her baby after she was killed by her husband in Greece.

The British mum was smothered to death by helicopter pilot Charalambos “Babis” Anagnostopoulos as their one-year-old daughter Lydia lay nearby.

Lydia has been living with her paternal grandparents Georgia and Kostas Anagnostopoulos since the killing on May 11, but now a judge has ruled she should be given to Caroline’s parents.

In an emotional handover, Georgia, a teacher, was seen carrying Lydia after the court ruling.

Anagnostopoulos originally claimed his 20-year-old wife died in a robbery at their home in Glyka Nera, Athens.

However, he later admitted that this story was a cover-up after more than eight hours of interrogation, police say.

Last week the 33-year-old said he wanted to raise his baby daughter from prison.

But a court stripped him of his parental rights and gave exclusive custody of the child to Caroline’s parents.

Lydia was seen being carried to a car by Anagnostopoulos’ mum and brother Fotis in Athens at around 9am, Sun Online reports.

The killer’s mum was holding a bag with Lydia’s clothes and other items.

The handover of Lydia will be the first time Caroline’s mum Susan will see Georgia face-to-face after Anagnostopoulos admitted killing Caroline.

Lydia will be raised on the island of Alonissos, where Caroline’s British dad David and mum Susan, who is from the Philippines, live. It is also where Caroline was raised.

Thanassis Harmanis, the Crouch’s family lawyer, said being raised on the island should protect Lydia from hurtful comments.

He added: “In Athens she would be known as ‘the child of the murderer’.

“In Alonissos she would be the daughter of Caroline whose life was unjustly cut short.’”

Susan had previously requested full custody of her granddaughter so that she is “not known as a killer’s daughter”.

Georgia and Kostas had asked for joint custody and applied to look after her for at least six months of the year.

But the court decided they are allowed to see Lydia five times a week between 10am and 2pm, but only if they travel to Alonissos.

Georgia was also pictured carrying Lydia away from her parent’s home after Caroline died.

Relations between the two families, especially the grandmothers, are said to be “excellent”, according to reports.

But it remains unknown if Georgia and Kostas will try to overturn the judgement, as there is a 30-day window for them to do so.

Caroline’s diary entries before her death appear to show her marriage falling apart, with Anagnostopoulos allegedly behaving in a controlling and aggressive manner.

A coroner’s report suggested Ms Crouch was attacked while she was sleeping and suffered a slow, agonising death in the early hours of May 11.

A sharp increase in her heart rate was detected between 4.05am and 4.11am, the time her heart stopped beating, according to a fitness tracker she was wearing on her wrist.

The report gave the cause of death as suffocation.

Anagnostopoulos initially claimed she was strangled and the family dog Roxy was also killed when intruders stormed into the maisonette and demanded cash and jewellery.

He told police that he and Ms Crouch were both tied up and gagged, and the burglars fled with about £10,000 worth of euros which was hidden in a Monopoly box.

However he later admitted to smothering his wife with a pillow, killing their pet and staging a fake robbery to cover up his crime.

But Anagnostopoulos will argue that his wife was being “verbally and physically aggressive towards him”, according to local reports.

If he manages to convince a jury that the killing was unplanned, he could see a life sentence reduced to just 15 years behind bars.