I heard this on the news earlier this morning. How awful for all concerned. My deepest sympathy goes out to the victim's family and I hope the other lad that's seriously injured will make a full recovery.

Apart from the tragedy the families are going through this incident will only add fuel to the belief that Laganas is overun with British yobs. However, I'm off to Zante in a few weeks and this hasn't put me off. The victim and his friends allegedly provoked the driver with their antics and this led to him 'losing it'.

RIP Robert.

Personally i can't see how ANY level of provocation is justification for stabbing some 18 year old lad. These resorts(i live and work in one)are full of Brits and SOME are yobs but let's face it,no one calls them yobs when they're encouraging them to get so drunk they don't even know their own name in return for their hard earned euros,that's all part of the fun isn't it,and how many a club owner afford his mansion in the hills,mercedes and speedboat.

This lad is a friend of a friend of mine and by all accounts he wasn't a yob at all,we all know that boys will be boys and things get out of hand,i was no stranger to a punch-up 10-15 years ago,but stabbings over a bit of late night naughtiness,jesus christ...

I've just re-read my post and I'm sorry that it hasn't come across as I intended it to. I'm in no way, shape or form defending the taxi driver for what he did and I am definitely not calling the victim a yob. What I tried to convey was the fact that a lot of people (who already see Laganas as a 'bad' place) will use this incident as an excuse to slate the resort. In my defence (if in fact Sambacasual was having a go at me) my own son's first lads holiday abroad was in Laganas when he was 18 and I'm sure he got up to some antics himself so I'm definitley not going to be the pot calling the kettle black.

As for the driver- he was the one that said he'd 'lost it' and for some reason unknown to us he went much too far I also wonder where he got the knife from.

My apologies again if I've upset anyone with my last post.

Sorry i wasn't aiming that at you at all,i've been reading the comments pages on news sites as well as on forums and there's an overwhelming amount of people that seem to have the attitude of 'annoy the locals and deserve whatever you get',not only do i think that's far too harsh it also hints that people believe and accept that the Greeks are like that,which they're not,i live amongst Greeks
and each one i've spoken to is horrified by this news and most can't even believe this taxi driver is even Greek,many are dismissing the news saying 'he must be albanian,especially if it's on zante',not saying theyre right as the bloke's name has yet to be released but the locals here are stunned that a greek would do that,it's just not how things are here,especially on the islands,rougher parts of Athens yes,but the islands,no way. It's not like the knife/violence culture of the UK.

I think one of the most balanced views was this one, in a Greek newspaper, no sensationalism, just a fair assessment of the responsibilities that should be taken by all sides,
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite3_4_13/07/2011_398246
Nothing will guarantee these sort of incidents will be never be repeated, but some sensible comments in this article about educating & regulating both the holiday makers & those that serve them.
Thankfully most incidents don't end in tragedy, but the potential for these situations could be reduced & the heartache for the families avoided.

A very well written article there athensfan,i read ekathemerini a lot,always tells it how it is i find.

What i will say,as someone that's lived and worked in a resort similar to lags for the last 10 or so years is that here in Faliraki we were where Lags is now,10 years ago.

Things came to a head in 2003 when a 17 year old tourist was stabbed to death in Q club here in Raki,i was in the club at the time and my friend was a bouncer there and had the bad luck of being first on the scene,having the lad die in his arms,he was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle by another tourist rather than a local but the furore it created changed everything from that moment on,before that we'd had the 'clubreps' TV show filmed in town for 2 years running and the place was constantly sensationalised in the British press as being a lawless and wild den of sex,violence,corruption,rape and murder when the truth is it was,and is just a holiday resort where young people drink to excess in a concentrated area,same as laganas,malia,kavos,magaluf,benidorm etc etc etc. I'm the first to admit it was wild in it's heyday but not the way the papers made out,but there was a lot more trouble on the streets than there is now,part of this went with the bigger crowds and the fact it was 90% brits but part was also down to certain factors locally,namely the huge bar crawls organised in resort that could number 3-400 people,the standard of accomodation with 18-30 sticking people in fly-blown studios in run down buildings above nightclubs etc,the lack of police presence,violence committed by the police themselves,bar owners encouraging kids to get so drunk they couldnt stand up,thus meaning more money would get spent etc etc.

From 2003 onwards things changed,we now have a dedicated police station central to the nightlife,well-trained police who speak a variety of languages and that have much more of a friendly public presence and a rapport with bar owners and english workers beyond that which they had in the past,better liaising between police,council,chamber of commerce and tour operators and generally a higher standard of accomodation,the closure of some of the more seedy bars and the banning of bar crawls apart from tour operator organised ones,which have number limits. This is all being done behind the scenes so tourists never feel hemmed in or like they're subject to too many rules etc and that combined with a shift in numbers from other countries has meant that faliraki has now become a much more diverse,versatile and SAFER holiday resort for all kinds of people,yet has managed to retain it's party image and atmosphere,but with a slightly better standard of tourist and more mutual respect between locals,workers and visitors.

If the Zakynthian authorities take the same steps the Rodians have then i'm sure incidents like these and the resort's reputation as being a wild place where parents fear for their teenage offspring's safety will become a thing of the past and locals will make more money and have less stress.

Sorry to post such a long-winded response but this is a topic that i and the people i live and work with have been affected by over the years and we have a certain passion for it when we see how other resorts,and indeed families are suffering.

I started going to Greece in 1968, and in that time the British tourists were treated with great respect, and likewise the tourists treated the indigenous folk with warmth, friendliness and politeness, freindships were formed and lasted. I have noticed especially in the last 10-15 years how the Greeks are really fed up with the behaviour and manners of certain Brits, the abuse that they have to endure, the drunken, slovenly behaviour of the younger set. I personally saw an English girl having sex with 2 British lads on a road within 30ft of a restaurant at 8pm at night, my question is would she have done this in the UK.............of course not, she and they would know the penalty, so what gives them the right to do this in Greece.

I often hear the word RESPECT bandied about by young Brits, yet they totally ignore this word when they are abroad.WHY? I am very sorry for the parents of this young man who lost his life in the stabbing, I am also sorry for the man who killed him, he must have been driven to despair, to have bought himself to such an act, there are no winners here, two families are now grieving. All I can say is that when you go abroad to whatever country you visit, treat people the same way that you wish to be treated, we are after all guests in their country, and lets get this "We are the Brits, and Brits on tour" mentality out of their heads. Go to Greece and embrace this beautiful culture, enjoy the food, the people, the stunning scenery, and why not stop at a bar for a couple of drinks, then go back to your hotel and ponder on the day, much better than ending up in the gutter half naked and covered in vomit. So very sad!

you seem to think the Greeks hate the British,nothing could be further from the truth,who do you think made the bar owners/hoteliers in Laganas,Faliraki and Malia etc rich,who are their favourite of all the nationalities that visit both party and family resorts,who do they employ the most of all in their bars,who do they,as an industry cater for more or less more than they do all the other european visitors combined?

sorry mate but your post is pretty way off in my experience as a Brit living and working on a greek island for the last decade and having friends from a good few other island and the major cities,aswell as having regular trips and holidays on other
islands(including zante,this year and last year),never once have i heard a Greek say they hate us as a race,nationality or class of tourist,they hate individuals
sure,who doesn't,but you make out it's almost like our name is mud.

18-30 year olds going out for a quiet drink and then heading
back to the hotel to ponder their day....were you ever 18?!


And as for any sympathy towards the bloke who did the stabbing,jesus,that in itself is a disgraceful comment,NOTHING is justification for stabbing an 18 year old tourist to death and wounding 4 of his mates,who i might add all received stab wounds to their BACKS.

Great post Samba, Its so easy for older folk to judge the youth of today in one fell swoop. Hoodies, drunks, hooligans etc. There is alot more to it. I, like Samba, have worked in Laganas and also Malia, which both have a heavy culture of drinking and excess. In mid-august there can be literally thousands of young, drunk people on the streets. Incidents like this are always going to happen where such a gathering of people takes place.

Im not sure it can be fully controlled, and not sure the people who visit here want it to be be fully controlled. If you start policing the streets, controlling drinking and controlling the times bars/clubs are open til, then people will just go elsewhere. I know Samba mentions, and works in Faliraki. When I worked there in 2005, I found Faliraki to be a place for young couples and young families, rather than the hulabaloo of years gone by. Im not sure that a party of 14 rugby players from Wigan would want for this? Yes there is better policing, less chance of a fight and a general safer environment, which is great when you get a bit older (like me) but im not certain its what every 20 year old wants? Correct me if im wrong.

Its unfair, I feel to jump on the 'our youth are running wild in the streets of Greece' bandwagon, because of one or two incidents, because this has been happening for years, I was doing it 15 years ago, tho managing to avoid trouble, and maybe avoid a 'dark path' that was mentioned in an earlier post. Good debate though.

18-30 year olds going out for a quiet drink and then heading
back to the hotel to ponder their day....were you ever 18?!........................samba

Yes Samba I was 18, but my parents bought me up to respect people, yes I did have a drink or two, but I always conducted myself in a manner not to bring disgrace on anyone, and remember I lived through the Beatles generation when the whole world tipped upside down and changed the youth forever, it saddens me to see the British youth of today NOT ALL I MAY ADD, being labelled as bad. My post was merely trying to highlite a culture that has at times got out of control. As far as the Greeks hating us, I didn't say that! in fact the Greeks have been, to me, extremely genuine and polite and of course friendly. but to come back to your post, ask some of the older Greeks what they think of British youth, I can tell you it is not complimentary.

As far as me saying that I feel sorry also for the man who perpetrated the stabbing, if you read it carefully you can see that what I was saying is that his life and his families life is now ruined forever, and of course the young lad who died, it is all very sad as I said there are no winners in this. But what shocked me more is the statement you made at the top of this page, it is as if you are saying 18-30 year olds would never have a quiet drink, that all they want to do is get blitzed throw up, and like I said in my previous post have sex in the streets.............now that's a DISGRACE so just where do you stand on this, and yes I agree with you on one point there is a generation gap, which I dont think can ever be filled, but that I'm afraid is life, you were bought up in a generation and an era very different to mine, and it is difficult for the two to see eye to eye, as you will experience in the years to come.

As this is now drifting off topic, time to close I think.

luci