Father ‘too ill’ for inquest

A MAN who killed his six-year-old son when he pushed him off a hotel balcony in Crete five years ago was too ill to attend an inquest yesterday.

John Hogan, from Bradley Stoke, near Bristol, is receiving treatment under the Mental Heath Act at a psychiatric unit, a coroner was told.

The inquest is being held into the death of his son Liam, who suffered severe head injuries after falling from the Petra Mare Hotel in August 2006. Liam’s sister, Mia, then aged two, survived with a broken arm after they were pushed off the balcony by their father during a family holiday.

The inquest at Avon Coroner’s Court in Flax Bourton, near Bristol, is being held after the original verdict recorded in 2008 – that Liam was unlawfully killed by his father – was overturned by the High Court.

Two judges ruled that the verdict by then Avon coroner Paul Forrest was flawed and needed “further consideration”.