Cyprus Rejects British Father's Plea to Drop Charges in Son's Death

Authorities in Cyprus have rejected a British father's appeal to drop charges in the death of his two-year-old son, who fell from a hotel window in July. The 37-year-old banker's legal team had urged the Attorney General to discontinue the case on humanitarian grounds.

On the eve of his plea hearing, the father received a written response from George Savvides refusing the request. The father is now scheduled to appear at Paphos District Court to enter a plea to the charge of causing death by a rash, reckless or dangerous act. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.

The incident occurred on July 12 at the King Evelthon Hotel near Paphos. The father reportedly placed the toddler on a windowsill while waiting for an elevator, unaware the window was open. The child then fell 33 feet to his death.

The father was initially held without charge for eight days before being formally charged. He was required to pay $30,000 in bail, with a temporary condition preventing him from leaving the island lifted for one month. This allowed him to return to the UK on August 5 to bury his son and reunite with his wife and five-year-old daughter. The family laid the boy to rest at the end of August, and the father returned to Cyprus last Monday.

Defense attorney Alexandros Alexandrou argued to the Attorney General that there was no public interest in continuing the prosecution, citing the horrific nature of the accident and the family's profound loss. He also made a humanitarian case, suggesting a prolonged legal process would deepen the family's trauma and emphasized the need for stability and parental presence for the victim's five-year-old sister.

Cyprus authorities have focused their inquiries on the father, rather than the hotel, which has seen three British tourist deaths in four years. In 2023, six-year-old Ruaridh Nairne drowned in the hotel's pool. In July 2022, 21-year-old Ben Woods drowned while playing volleyball in the hotel's pool.