A 37-year-old man charged with causing the death of his three-year-old son had 124 mg of alcohol in his system at the time, the prosecution told Paphos District Court on Tuesday. His lawyer argued there was no evidence that the alcohol had affected his behaviour.
The court reserved its decision until 11am on Friday, 16 October, after hearing submissions from both sides at a mitigation hearing. The British man is charged with causing the boy’s death through a rash, reckless or dangerous act.
Prosecutor Chryso Perganti set out the facts of the case, and the defence did not dispute the prosecution’s account. She said the man had taken an alcohol test and a drug test with his written consent, and the initial test showed a reading of 34 mg. A later laboratory report showed that he had 124 mg of alcohol in his system at the material time, she said.
Defence lawyer Alexandros Alexandrou placed particular emphasis on the reading. He argued that it was one element of the evidence, but that nothing showed drinking had affected the father’s behaviour. He described the alcohol report as an estimate based on a mathematical equation. Immediately after the incident, the 37-year-old interacted with dozens of people, including doctors, police officers and nurses, the lawyer said. “There is no evidence that he was not communicating or that he was stumbling,” he told the court.
Arguing that the boy died in a moment of inattention, in which events unfolded in a split second, Alexandrou asked the court to assess his client’s degree of culpability and to take into account his personal and professional circumstances. He cited the man’s admission, his clean criminal record and his long career. He also submitted documents and other material, asking the court to impose the lightest sentence the law allows. If the court decides on a prison term, it should be suspended, he said.
No sentence could undo what the father was going through, the lawyer added, saying he would carry it for the rest of his life.
Until the decision, the man remains free on the conditions set earlier.
(Information from Cyprus News Agency)
