British man fined €3,000 for causing two-year-old son’s death in Cyprus

Original article by Helena Smith in Athens

A British man has been fined €3,000 (£2,500) after his two-year-old son fell 10 metres (33ft) to his death from the fourth-floor window of a hotel in Cyprus.

Joshua Foster thought the window was closed when he approached it with the boy to show him the view of a waterpark and “lost control” of him, the court previously heard.

The 37-year-old appeared at Paphos district court on Friday for sentencing having pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death through a reckless, rash or dangerous act.

In emotional scenes at the court, Judge Froso Christodoulidou ruled that Foster would not be jailed, before describing the incident on 12 July, the first day of the family’s holiday in Cyprus, as a “tragic event”.

“Jail is not appropriate,” the judge said, telling the courtroom that as there was “clearly no intent to kill” she had decided against a custodial sentence and would instead order Foster to pay the fine.

The Essex-born auditor, who had previously appeared in court visibly distraught, struggled to hold back tears as the sentence was handed down. As it dawned that the case was finally over, he hugged his lawyer before telling reporters: “Thank you for your support. I’m looking forward to going home and being with my wife and daughter.”

The light sentence – the minimum for the charge – meant Foster could retrieve his passport and other documents he had been forced to surrender. More usually levelled in cases involving fatal traffic accidents, the charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

Speaking outside the district court in Paphos, the defendant’s lawyer, Alexandros Alexandrou, said Foster, who works for one of the UK’s big four accounting firms, would finally be able to grieve.

“He’s been through a lot and it’s been very emotional but he’s relieved it’s over,” he said of his client, who posted €30,000 in bail to return to the UK to attend the toddler’s funeral in August before being forced under threat of extradition to return to Cyprus for the proceedings.

“This case should not have gone to court. We asked for the charges to be suspended. Unfortunately this was not accepted.”

Alexandrou had appealed to the island’s attorney general, Cyprus’s top legal official, to discontinue the criminal procedure on humanitarian grounds, arguing that prosecution “does not serve the public interest”. The request was denied.

The boy fell to his death from the window of the King Evelthon hotel within hours of the family arriving in Paphos.

In mitigation on 5 October, Alexandrou recounted how Foster was making his way to a lift along the corridor when he stopped at the window and the “inconceivable” occurred. The Briton, he said, had not realised the window was ajar when, lifting the child, who was excitedly pointing to the hotel’s waterpark outside, he “lost control” and he slipped through his hands. The boy was pronounced dead at Paphos general hospital shortly after suffering severe cranial injuries when he hit a veranda below.

Summing up, Christodoulidou said while the presence of alcohol had been detected in Foster’s blood it was not enough to suggest he was impaired to the point where he had “acted recklessly”.

“It is no exaggeration to say that for the rest of his life he will have guilt for losing his child in such a tragic way,” she added. Mitigating factors presented by the defence, including the Briton’s lack of criminal record, as well as his guilty plea, had also played a role in her decision, she explained. In a country so dependent on tourism, criticism had mounted as Cypriot human rights defenders, media pundits and foreign diplomats all questioned the perceived lack of compassion with which officials approached the case.

A former British colony, the eastern Mediterranean island attracts roughly 4 million visitors and is particularly popular with tourists from the UK.

Alexandrou, the lawyer, said he had advised his client to admit the negligence charge to avoid a potentially drawn-out and disturbing trial when he and his family were still processing the grief of their “unimaginable loss”.

Conceding the case had been “emotional” for the entire defence team, the lawyer added: “He can finally grieve. Now that the court proceedings are over, the explosion of his emotions at the loss of his child will be immediate.”

In a statement issued after the sentencing, the Foster family said: “Today marks the end of the legal proceedings in Cyprus, and we are grateful to the court and Judge Christodoulidou for her decision to apply the maximum mitigation afforded to her.

“We are relieved that this process is now over, but for our family, the consequences of this tragedy will never end. Our son was deeply loved and will be forever missed. His loss is something we carry with us every day.

“Our focus now is on supporting one another and finding a way forward as a family. We ask that our privacy is respected as we do so.”