A disturbing domestic violence case in Volos has sent shockwaves through the local community. On Friday, 28 August 2026, a 44-year-old man appeared before the Volos Single-Member Misdemeanor Court after allegedly threatening to kill his father. The court found him guilty of domestic violence and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment — suspended for three years, with no suspensive effect on appeal. As a condition of the suspended sentence, the court ordered him to attend a domestic violence intervention program at the Volos Mental Health Centre.
Escalation During Family Dispute
The incident unfolded on 27 August, when the man reportedly assaulted his mother after she refused to give him money for gambling. According to his father’s testimony, the defendant pushed his mother during the confrontation. When the father intervened to de-escalate the situation, his son shouted, “Get out — I’ll kill you,” prompting the father to call the police immediately.
“He’s addicted to gambling. He has behavioral issues and frequently yells inside the house. This time, though, I was truly afraid — he seemed far more enraged than usual,” the father told the court.
Conflicting Accounts in Court
The defendant denied making any death threat. In his testimony, he claimed he only told his father to “get out from in front of me” — using harsh language that upset his father but stopping short of a direct threat. He also denied pushing his mother, saying the two had merely argued. He acknowledged gambling, but insisted it wasn’t daily and that he spent €300–€400 per month on average — not the much higher amounts his father alleged.
He described himself as a university graduate and denied having any addiction. He admitted being unemployed but said he had occasionally worked on family-owned agricultural land in the past. He also stated he believed he was entitled to a fair share of his parents’ estate — a point of longstanding tension within the family.
Deepening Family Rift
The father countered that his son has never held formal employment and blamed the family’s assets for enabling his son’s dependency. He claimed the man uses money from his mother’s pension and rental income from family properties to fund his gambling habit — spending far more than €400 monthly. “My son has never worked a day in his life — and our property is why,” he said bluntly.
The defendant expressed surprise at the verdict, noting he had no prior criminal record. Still, he accepted the court’s requirement to complete the mental health centre’s program — a mandatory step to avoid incarceration.