An inquest opened in the UK on Friday into the death of a three-year-old boy who fell from a fourth-floor hotel window in Paphos on 12 July, the BBC reported. His father, Joshua Foster, 37, was fined 3,000 euros by a Paphos court in October after admitting causing his son’s death through a reckless, rash or dangerous act.
The inquest was adjourned until 6 January, when the full hearing will take place, said Lincoln Brookes, the senior coroner for Essex. He described the case as “particularly tragic” and offered his condolences to the boy’s family.
The provisional cause of death was recorded as severe head and brain injuries and multiple injuries to the body and vital organs, caused by a fall from height, according to the BBC.
The case in Cyprus
The boy died at a hotel in Chloraka, in Paphos district, hours after the family arrived in Cyprus on holiday. According to testimony from the boy’s relatives, he was waiting with his father and grandfather for the lift to go down to dinner when his father, who was playing with him, sat him on a window next to the lift without realising it was open.
In August, the Attorney General rejected a defence request to suspend the prosecution on humanitarian grounds, and the father pleaded guilty on 22 September. At the mitigation hearing, the prosecution said a laboratory report had found 124mg of alcohol in his system at the time, while the defence argued there was no evidence that drinking had affected his behaviour.
In sentencing him, the court found that he had not intended to harm his son. It also took into account the tragedy he was living through and the fact that he had cooperated fully and sincerely with the authorities. The fine was deducted from the 30,000 euros he had paid in bail, and he was free to return home.
(Featured image from AP)
