Crete court hears Hogan 'threat'

A bereaved mother has described how a family holiday ended with her husband jumping from a hotel balcony in Crete with their two children.Natasha Hogan told the court how her ex-husband, had warned her: "If you are going to live in a house with the children I will burn it to the ground."John Hogan has gone on trial in Crete for the murder of his six-year-old son Liam.The 34-year-old, told a court on the Greek island: "I do not accept the charge that I planned to kill my children."Hogan plunged from the four star Petra Mare hotel with his son Liam, and daughter Mia, then aged two, during the break in August 2006. Liam died from massive head injuries. Mia suffered a broken arm.A jury of three men and a woman selected to sit alongside three judges heard evidence from Mrs Hogan, who described the threat Hogan had made.The tragic events unfolded midway through a two-week break at the 227-bed hotel, which overlooks the beach of Lerapetra, in Crete.Hogan, then 32, had been rowing with his wife before he jumped. All three were taken to Heraklion University Hospital.Liam, who Hogan hurled over first, was declared dead despite his mother's frantic attempts to resuscitate him. Mia had only a broken arm because she was being held by her father as they landed.Hogan, who ran a tiling business in Bristol, was charged with murder and attempted murder.He has been held in an Athens jail for 16 months and has attempted to kill himself several times since his arrest.He has been treated for clinical depression and his lawyers previously argued he was not mentally fit to stand trial.Mrs Hogan said the couple "dearly loved" their children but their marriage was breaking down.She said: "We loved our children so much but the marriage was not working. This had gone on for a long time."Mrs Hogan told how the holiday booked to patch up their marriage was ruined by constant rowing.She said at one point Hogan confronted her about his fear that she was thinking of leaving him.She said that on the third day of the trip, Hogan had tried to kiss her.She told the court: "When I moved away, he said, 'You are thinking, aren't you?'. I said, 'Yes I am'."She added: "When we discussed our problems, he just said 'I am not talking about this now'."Mrs Hogan said Liam was becoming upset by his parents' constant arguments.On the night before her son's death, she said she had left the room because Hogan was getting increasingly angry. She said he was now certain she would leave.She said: "He said do you think you will go to live with your mother? I replied, 'Maybe I will, yes'."At 6pm on the night Liam died, Mrs Hogan got changed and took the children to the hotel's restaurant for dinner because Hogan was "agitated".She said: "I asked him to calm down because the kids were there. I bathed the children and then took them down to dinner."She then described how Hogan kept coming down to the restaurant in an increasingly "angry" mood.Mrs Hogan later described the moment her husband jumped from the balcony with his children.She had decided to take the children home early and had gone back to the room to organise the suitcases.She said: "He stared at me with a crazed look and started shouting."He said 'My packing is crap'. I had my back to him and when I turned around no one was there."The court then took a break after Mrs Hogan broke down in tears.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | January 21, 2008

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