Crete balcony death

Posted by Martina Birk on Wednesday, April 24, 2024

A date has been set for a new inquest into the death of a six-year-old boy from Bradley Stoke near Bristol - killed when his father jumped from a hotel balcony in Greece, holding him in his arms.

John Hogan leapt 50ft from the fourth-floor balcony of the hotel in Crete holding Liam and daughter Mia, two, during a family holiday in 2006.

Mia survived with a broken arm, but Liam suffered fatal head injuries.

Hogan, of Bradley Stoke, South Gloucestershire, was cleared of murder by a Greek court.

A subsequent inquest held in Bristol in March 2008 recorded Liam was unlawfully killed, however. That ruling was quashed at the High Court in May 2009 when two judges ordered a fresh inquest be held before a different coroner.

Sir Anthony May and Mrs Justice Dobbs ruled the verdict made by the then Avon Coroner, Paul Forrest, was flawed and needed "further consideration".

They indicated that a "really quite serious error of law" had occurred because the question of Hogan's mental state "was simply not addressed".

The Greek jury in Hogan's trial decided the former tiler had been suffering from "an earthquake of insanity" during the trip to Crete.

Hogan had gone on holiday with then wife Natasha Visser in August 2006 in a bid to salvage their marriage. The incident happened shortly before they were due to return home.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has indicated that there will be no prosecution of Hogan in the UK for murder.

The three-day inquest is due to take place at Flax Bourton Coroner's Court, near Bristol, from November 28. It will be held before Avon Coroner Maria Voisin.

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