A British father has been convicted over the death of his two-year-old son, who died after falling from a hotel window in Cyprus. 

The City executive, 37, from Essex, today pleaded guilty to causing death by ‘a rash, dangerous or reckless act’ after his son plunged from a fourth-floor balcony on July 12. 

Having appeared today at Paphos District Court, he could now face a maximum sentence of four years in prison. The minimum he could receive is a fine.

He may be able to serve a suspended sentence in the UK if he is given less than three years. 

The man placed his son on a windowsill at the five-star King Evelthon Hotel while waiting for a lift believing it was closed.

To his horror, the boy fell backwards and plunged 33ft. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Paphos General Hospital.

The toddler was the third British tourist to die at the hotel in four years. 

The father was initially held on remand without charge for eight days in what local press described as Cypriot police’s ‘cruellest act’.

The toddler was the third British tourist to die at the five-star King Evelthon Hotel near Paphos in four years

The father placed the toddler on a windowsill at the King Evelthon Hotel, near Paphos, while waiting for the lift not realising the window was open.

Authorities focused their inquiries on him, rather than the hotel where three British guests have now died in four years, and which is owned by an influential Cypriot family.

Stuck behind bars, he was forced to tell his surviving five-year-old daughter of her brother’s death over FaceTime. Her and her mother – a 38-year-old health professional – returned home to the UK at the end of July.

Toxicology reports found a very small quantity of alcohol, equivalent to one or two drinks, in the man’s blood.

Once he was formally charged, he was forced to pay a total of €30,000 (£25,750) in bail and was banned from leaving the island – though this was temporarily lifted on August 5 to allow him to bury his son.

Of the toddler, a family member told the Daily Mail: ‘He was a truly special, easy-going little boy who brought so much joy to everyone around him.

‘He was deeply adored and his infectious smile, warm cuddles and kind heart are already so deeply missed and always will be.’

The father’s conviction today came after he was informed last week on what would have been his son’s third birthday that Cyprus attorney general George Savvides had rejected an appeal for the case to be dropped.

His lawyer Alexandros Alexandrou asked for the case to be thrown out on humanitarian grounds, arguing there was no public interest in continuing the prosecution. Any prolonged criminal process, he added, would only deepen the family’s trauma.

Speaking to reporters, he said: ‘Last night he decided to plead guilty in order to end this story, to face whatever is going to be the penalty.

‘To go back to his family which is the most important thing in his mind, to support, grieve and stand with his family.’

Mr Alexandrou said that before the guilty he had told his client what the procedures in Cyprus were and that a trial would have taken ‘many days’ and involved ‘pictures and evidence’ that would have been disturbing for the family.

He said his client was a ‘father who found himself in an unfortunate situation’, and that there was no intent.

Friends previously told the Daily Mail they were worried about how the family would survive if the legal proceedings continued. One said: ‘His main worry is about his daughter and his wife.

‘Obviously, he needs to go back to his job as soon as possible. I imagine his employer can’t keep his job open forever…’

Ruaridh Nairne, six, from Inverness, Scotland, tragically drowned in the hotel’s pool in 2023

Ben Woods, 21, from Leigh in Greater Manchester drowned while playing volleyball in the hotel’s pool in July 2022

When the Daily Mail visited the King Evelthon Hotel, where the British toddler fell to his death, it found the large fourth-floor window was still open.

UK health and safety guidelines state hotel windows large enough that children can fall through should be restricted to an opening of 4in or less.

But in Cyprus the window must simply be above a ledge at least 3.5ft tall – which King Evelthon complies with.

The resort’s safety record has come under scrutiny after it emerged the child was the third British tourist to die there in four years.

Ben Woods, 21, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, drowned while playing volleyball in the hotel’s pool in July 2022. 

Only the following year, six-year-old Ruaridh Nairne, from Inverness, also drowned.

And another woman reportedly died while swimming there in 2024.

The British father is set to be sentenced on October 5 at Paphos District Court.