07/05/2009

Hogan Inquest Ruling Quashed

The High Court has ruled that there should be no fresh inquest into the death of a boy whose father pushed him from a Crete hotel balcony.

An inquest verdict of unlawful killing in the case of John Hogan - who jumped with two-year-old daughter Mia and Liam, six - was today quashed.

In April 2008 coroner Paul Forrest recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. Mr Hogan's sister, Christine O'Connor, asked the High Court to overturn the verdict on the grounds Mr Hogan was "not in control of his actions" because of his psychotic state.

Sir Anthony May and Mrs Justice Dobbs, sitting in London, ruled the verdict was flawed and the case must go back "for further consideration".

At a recent hearing, they indicated that a "really quite serious error of law" had occurred because the question of Mr Hogan's mental state "was simply not addressed".

Hogan, a 34-year-old former tiler from Bradley Stoke, near Bristol, pushed his son and daughter off the balcony following a row with his then wife Natasha, who said she was going to leave her husband and take her children with her.

Mia survived the 50ft plunge from the fourth-floor balcony two years ago.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has said Mr Hogan will not be prosecuted in this country for murder.

(JM/BMcC)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

04 November 2008
Balcony Fall Father To Appeal Inquest Ruling
A father who threw his two children off a balcony, killing his young son, has gained permission to appeal against an inquest verdict of unlawful killing. John Hogan, 34, of Bradley Stoke, South Gloucestershire, was cleared of the murder of his six-year-old son Liam, by a Greek court in January.
21 January 2008
Tragic Balcony Fall Recalled In Cretan Court
The Bristol man accused of killing his own son in a tragic fall from a hotel balcony in Crete has denied the charge. John Hogan is accused of murdering Liam, six, by leaping 50ft (15m) with him and his sister from the fourth floor of a hotel in 2006. The 33-year-old's daughter Mia survived the fall.
16 October 2012
Attorney General Applies To Have Original Hillsborough Verdict Quashed
An application has been put forward by the Attorney General to have the original Hillsborough inquest verdict quashed. Dominic Grieve QC announced the move in Parliament in his response to the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report published on 12 September.
27 March 2008
Hotel Balcony Plunge Boy 'Unlawfully Killed'
A six-year-old boy who died in a fall from a hotel balcony in Crete was unlawfully killed, an inquest has ruled. Liam Hogan, from Bristol, died from severe head injuries after falling from the balcony of the room at the Petra Mare Hotel in Ierapetra in August 2006, along with his father, John, and two-year-old sister Mia.
26 March 2008
Disagreement If Children 'Were Pushed' Over Hotel Balcony
An inquest into the death of six-year-old Liam Hogan at a hotel in Crete has heard how he was "pushed" from a balcony along with his sister - although other evidence conflicts with that version. Liam, from Bristol, died in a fall from the balcony of the room at the Petra Mare Hotel in Ierapetra in August 2006.