THE mother of a teenager who was stabbed to death on holiday in Greece has said she is desperate to ask his killer why he attacked her son.

Rhian Sebbage is back in the Greek courts this week for the retrial of taxi driver Stelios Morfis, who killed her 18-year-old son Robert on July 13, 2011.

In 2012, Morfis was found guilty of the unintentional manslaughter of Robert, a former pupil at The Hurst Community College, and of causing life-threatening bodily injur-ies to four of his friends on the Greek island of Zante.

Morfis was jailed for 11 years, but the Greek prosecutor’s office believes the sentence should be longer and that Morfis should be found guilty of intentional manslaughter.

As previously reported in The Gazette, Rhian, her husband Andy and their other two sons, Steven and Martin, spent hundreds of pounds to travel to the city of Patras for the new court hearing, which started in June, only to be told when they arrived that it would be adjourned until July 1.

On Tuesday, the family, from Tadley, were back in court and the proceedings finally got underway. But this time, just one of the four other young men who were stabbed, all from the Tadley area, was able to return to give evidence.

Rhian, 48, gave evidence on the first day, and said: “It’s really difficult because I suppose the more you see him (Morfis), you just want to take him apart and question him.

“We aren’t allowed to speak to him. He almost looks smug, and that’s disrespectful. We just go and sit and do exactly what we are told. We don’t make any contact or show emotion. What they (the defence team) are trying to do is pull us down mentally.”

She added that she was frustrated at not being able to question Morfis, adding: “Why didn’t he walk away? If he really doesn’t like the British people, he could have gone to his car and walked away. Why did he hide a weapon and use it all those times, knowing the consequences could be that someone could lose their life?

“I’m hoping someone will ask these questions. They are trying to make him out to be a poor innocent taxi driver. But the boys sat on the path and didn’t approach him. The evidence is there.”

Rhian said she was disappointed not to have anyone from the Foreign Office to support the family in court, and spoke of the financial difficulties the family have faced in attending the trial. They hope the ordeal will be over next week, and that Morfis’ sentence will be increased.