Dad of Caroline Crouch is moving to Philippines to bring child up

EXCLUSIVE: Dad of murdered Brit Caroline Crouch releases adorable picture of her daughter, two, as he reveals he is selling Greek home and moving to the Philippines to bring child up ‘far from malignant presence’ of her killer father

• Caroline Crouch’s father wants to bring up his granddaughter far from her dad
• David will move to the Philippines to be with his granddaughter, Lydia, aged two

Murdered British mum Caroline Crouch’s father is moving to the Philippines to help bring up his adorable granddaughter far from the scene of the crime – as he released the first picture of her to MailOnline.

Retired engineer David, 79, has put the family home up for sale on the idyllic Greek island of Alonnisos after living there for more than 20 years with his Filipino wife Susan.

He told MailOnline: ‘My only duty now is to look after her daughter, Lydia, who is now without both a mother and a father, and ensure that she is brought up as her mother would have brought her up. I can only do this in the Philippines, far away from the malignant presence of her father.’

Lydia, two, is currently living with her mother’s stepsister in the Philippines and David will now move there to help in bringing her up.

It was in Greece that his daughter Caroline, 19, was born and grew up and where she was buried after being brutally strangled by her evil husband Babis Anagnostopoulos in front of their then nine-month-old daughter Lydia.

David Crouch released an image of his adorable granddaughter and says he wants to raise her far from the scene of the crime

Caroline, 19, was brutally strangled by her evil husband Babis Anagnostopoulos in front of their then nine-month-old daughter Lydia

Murdered British mum Caroline Crouch’s father says he is moving to the Philippines to help bring up his adorable granddaughter

For six weeks in May 2021, conniving helicopter pilot Babis fooled police and Caroline’s family claiming burglars had broken in and killed not only Caroline but the family’s pet dog Roxy as well before escaping.

Callous Babis was even pictured hugging and weeping with David and Susan at Caroline’s graveside but minutes later police moved in to arrest him after spotting his alibi didn’t tally with data on his wife’s smartwatch.

READ MORE: ‘Prison will leave this odious creature broken’: Caroline Crouch’s family speak out 

David, who is originally from Liverpool, has now put the three-bedroom house on the market for 500,000 Euros and told MailOnline he hopes to have sold it by the summer.

He said: ‘I am very sorry to leave our old home on the beautiful island of Alonnisos. It has so many wonderful memories for me, memories that can relive in my quiet moments.

‘When I first saw the lot was for sale I said I’d take it. It was perfect, secluded and only five minutes walk from the old town.

‘It had an unobstructed view of the sea, over a verdant valley that was impossible to build on. It has the best view on the island, it’s impossible to build in front of and now with new laws will never have any nosy neighbours.

‘I think I’ve missed my calling, I should have been an estate agent.’

Then sharing a picture of Lydia with MailOnline, David added:’Lydia is happily settled in the Philippines with Donna (Caroline’s half-sister). All of her cousins have straight black hair so she stands out from the others and gets lots of attention which she enjoys.’

David told MailOnline:’ My little treasure (Lydia) is currently embedded within the loving family of her mother’s step-sister in the Philippines.

‘Like her cousins, she calls her aunt ‘mom’. Her cousins treat her just like a little sister.

David, who is originally from Liverpool, has now put the three-bedroom Greek house on the market for 500,000 Euros

David said: ‘I am very sorry to leave our old home on the beautiful island of Alonnisos. It has so many wonderful memories for me, memories that can relive in my quiet moments’

David said of his house: ‘When I first saw the lot was for sale I said I’d take it. It was perfect, secluded and only five minutes walk from the old town’

‘She is two and a half years old and has no concept of the idea of death.

‘At some point in the future, she will wonder why she is so unlike her siblings; she has European features and curly mid-brown hair, so unlike the straight, jet-black hair of her siblings.

‘It is of course of great concern to me, but it is something that must be handled sensitively; not something to be rushed into.

‘One day I hope to tell her stories about her mother: of her escapades, of her European travel, of SCUBA diving, of kickboxing, of canoeing with the scouts and running marathons.

‘I hope to show her the photographs of her mother taken when she was a child, to whom she bears a striking resemblance.

‘I will tell her of how every year her mother would proudly carry the national flag on the Independence Day parade because she always excelled at her schoolwork.

‘I will tell her that her mother was renowned for her love of animals and was immensely popular among all the children of her generation.’

He added:’Caroline’s sister’s family all speak English as their first language, although with a slight American accent.

Babis Anagnostopoulos, 35, (left) was given a 27-year-sentence for smothering Caroline (right) in front of the couple’s then nine month old baby daughter Lydia, in May 2021

For six weeks in May 2021, conniving helicopter pilot Babis fooled police and Caroline’s family claiming burglars had broken in and killed Caroline. The two are pictured on their wedding day

David saidit was his ‘duty’ to take Lydia as far away as possible from Alonnisos (right) so her ‘weasely father’ could have nothing to do with her.

‘Lydia now sounds indistinguishable from them. Caroline’s sister has three children, two teenagers and a little boy who is a couple of years older than Lydia.

‘Lydia and the little boy are bosom pals and she is desperate to be old enough to go to pre-school with him.

‘Judging by the photographs that I get sent, almost every weekend is spent at one of the many beautiful leisure centres that abound in the Philippines

Of course I would like to have her with me; she is the image of my beautiful daughter. But I realise that it would be for selfish reasons, to fill the hole in my life that the loss of Caroline left.

‘I can’t, in good conscience, say that I could ever give her a happier life than the one she is enjoying now.

‘Caroline and her sister were as close as two sisters could be and the death of Caroline dealt a devastating blow to her sister.

‘Taking care of Caroline’s daughter goes some way to relieving the pain of Caroline’s death.

‘It would be a tragedy to drag her back from the life she is leading there to the sterility of a life with the ‘other grandparents’; one a doddering old fool, the other a crazy woman.

‘You ask about special talents. The one talent that she has evidently inherited from her mother is the ability to charm everyone that comes into contact with her.’

David added: ‘May the evil murdering bastard rot in Hell.’

Anagnostopoulos arrived at the court building with an armed guard for the start of the hearing in February 20

Greek helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos arrived at an Athens court escorted by armed police officers, where he was found guilty of killing his British wife Caroline Crouch, May 10, 2022

Last month in an interview with MailOnline, David added that he would ‘take it as an hour’ if Greece still had the death penalty and he would be able to execute Babis for the murder of his daughter.

David added that he it was his ‘duty’ to take Lydia as far away as possible from Alonnisos so her ‘weasely father’ could have nothing to do with her.

He went on: ‘The crime committed by the murderer, that of feminicide is a heinous crime that should deserve particular severe punishment.

‘In my opinion, men who kill their wives, for whatever reasons are the lowest of the low, ranking alongside paedophiles.’

Babis is planning to appeal his 27-year-sentence later this month, with his lawyer claiming that he acted out of fear that Caroline was about to harm Lydia in the aftermath of a row they’d had.

But David said: ‘I think it will be a sad day for women when the murderer of a defenceless woman who was killed as she slept who her child will serve less than his full prison sentence. This man is beyond contempt.’

Babis’ parents have tried and failed to get custody of Lydia and David told MailOnline they were ‘delusional’ and under the mistaken belief their son was innocent of murder.’

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