British father charged after son, just three, 'falls to death from fourth-floor hotel window' in Cyprus

A British father has been charged after his three-year-old son died after falling from a fourth-floor hotel window in Cyprus.

The tragedy took place near the Chloraka area in the coast city of Paphos on Sunday, when the child is said to have fallen out of his 37-year-old father's arms whilst the pair were playing "aeroplane".

The dad was previously arrested and was set to be remanded in custody for eight days - but he has since been charged with negligence in connection to the death.

The 37-year-old was brought before a court which began shortly before 11am.

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However, the court session was briefly interrupted as the father burst into tears, local media reports.

The incident is said to have taken place when the family walked out of a lift to go down from the fourth floor to the ground floor for dinner.

When he was there, the father, who was allegedly playing with the child, did not notice the window in the hallway was open.

Adding to the tragedy, the whole incident played out in front of the child's grandfather.

Local police received initial reports of the shocking ordeal at around 6.40pm yesterday.

The boy is said to have landed on the hotel’s main veranda and did not respond to paramedics.

Emergency services rushed the child to Paphos General Hospital.

He was found dead in the hotel garden after the 33-foot plunge.

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“We are quite sure his father was holding him before the child fell," one source familiar with the probe told The Sun.

They added: “The inquiry is ongoing but although still early to come to any definitive conclusion everything is pointing to this being a tragedy.”

Paphos's Assistant Police Director of Operations, Michalis Nikolaou, confirmed the British father has been accused of causing death due to a reckless or dangerous act.

He also is accused of neglect of duty as head of the family and neglect of responsibility as a person who had the care of another person.

The 37-year-old man faces up to four years behind bars if convicted.

Another source told the newspaper that the matter of responsibility was “an open book”.

They declared: “The father has been arrested but was he really at fault?

"We are hearing that the boy fell from an open window along the corridor that led to the lift. Should that window have been open?”

An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy remains ongoing.

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