Family demands immediate release of British dad detained after son, 3, plunges from fourth floor window of Cyprus hotel
The family's lawyer said the grieving father was brought before a court "while suffering from unimaginable psychological trauma and without legal representation".
The British father of a three-year-old boy who fatally plunged from a fourth floor hotel window in Cyprus has pleaded to be released from custody.
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The toddler was on holiday with his dad at the beachfront hotel in Chloraka, near Paphos, when he accidentally fell on July 12.
He was pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.
Police arrested the grieving father hours later on suspicion of “causing death through negligence, reckless and dangerous actions”.
The man, 37, was then taken into custody for eight days.
Police spokesman Vyron Vyronos said “the father may be released before the remand expires”, if the investigation concludes sooner.
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His family is now pleading for his release before then so he and his wife can both inform their five-year-old daughter about the death of her brother.
Petros Stavrou, his lawyer, has written to the country’s Police Headquarters calling for his immediate release.
“The tragedy that has befallen our client is such that any further detention will only aggravate his already severe psychological condition, as well as that of his family.
“In particular his overriding concern is to be released so he may be with his wife to inform their five-year-old daughter of the death of their two-year-old son, to whom they have so far only told that her brother is in hospital.”
He added that the grieving dad brought before the Paphos District Court on Monday "while suffering from unimaginable psychological trauma and without legal representation".
The lawyer said the father was overwhelmed with emotion and unable to raise objections to being held in custody due to his "psychological condition" at the time.
Investigators reportedly believe the boy’s father and his grandfather were waiting for a lift to go to dinner when the disaster took place.
The dad was holding the child around his waist and swinging around as they waited, a court heard this week.
He then allegedly slipped through his father’s arms when he fell through the 4ft wide, 8ft tall window, which detectives say could have been open without the dad knowing.
The toddler sustained “severe cranial wounds and multiple wounds to his body and vital organs”. Toxicology tests carried out on the father came back “clean”, Cyprus police said.