British father faces sentencing over son’s fatal hotel fall in Paphos

Paphos, Cyprus. A British father whose three-year-old son died after falling through a fourth-floor hotel window is due to be sentenced on Friday morning. The decision follows three months of court proceedings and his guilty plea to causing the death through a rash or negligent act.

Sentencing follows mitigation hearing

Paphos district court is scheduled to announce the sentence at 11am. At an emotional hearing last week, defence lawyer Alexandros Alexandrou urged the judge to weigh the father’s negligence separately from the devastating outcome.

During mitigation on October 6, the court was told that the child fell at a hotel in Chlorakas on July 12, when the family began their Cyprus holiday.

The family had been beside the hotel pool for part of that day before going back to their rooms to get ready for dinner, the court heard. Later, the father and grandfather were walking with the boy towards the lift when the child wanted to see the waterpark outside.

According to the account presented in court, the father raised his son towards a large window because he believed glass stood between them and the outdoors. A section of the window was open, and the boy fell.

The child was transported to Paphos general hospital, but attempts to save him failed.

Defence asks court to assess father’s conduct

Alexandrou characterised the incident as a brief error of judgement during an otherwise routine family holiday. He argued that his client had not recognised the risk from the open window.

The lawyer acknowledged the child’s death and the tragedy as indisputable, but asked the judge to base the punishment on an assessment of the father’s behaviour rather than solely on the gravity of the consequences.

The father cried for much of the hearing while the moments preceding the fatal fall were recounted. His parents, who have attended the court proceedings alongside him, also showed visible distress.