The defence for the 37-year-old British father accused of negligence over his three-year-old son’s death at a Paphos hotel told Paphos District Court today it will file an application to temporarily lift his bail conditions. This would allow him to travel to England for the child’s burial and then return to Cyprus to remain available to the court.
Following this, and pending a decision on the application, the court set a new hearing date for Monday, August 3.
The 37-year-old is charged with negligent supervision of his child at the time of the incident and has been released on bail under conditions that secure his presence in Cyprus during the trial. The body of the three-year-old boy was transferred to England two days ago for burial. Authorities are now expected to decide whether to grant the father’s request to travel to his home country for the funeral and then return.
The bail conditions imposed on him include a cash deposit of €20,000, having his name placed on a stop list, surrendering his travel documents, signing in once a week at Paphos central police station, being barred from crossing roadblocks, and declaring his full residential address to police during this period.
The incident took place on the afternoon of Sunday, July 12, at a hotel in the coastal area of Chlorakas, where the British family had checked in for their holiday just hours earlier.
Police investigations found that the three-year-old boy fell while playing with his father in the corridor of the fourth floor, where their room was, as they waited for the lift to take them to the restaurant. The boy slipped from his father’s hands and fell through an open window in front of them.
An ambulance was called to the scene from Paphos Hospital, but by the time paramedics arrived, the child was not responding. He was taken to Paphos Hospital, where doctors on duty confirmed his death.
CID Paphos launched an investigation into the incident. The father was arrested a few hours later, facing allegations of inadequate supervision of the minor, since he had been responsible for supervising the child at the time.
