The father of the three-year-old British boy who died after falling from a fourth-floor window at a hotel in Chlorakas has asked police to release him immediately, according to a letter his lawyer sent to Police Headquarters and Assistant Chief of Police (Investigations) Marios Agiotis.
The boy fell on July 12, shortly after his family arrived in Cyprus for a holiday, and the father, 37, was remanded for eight days by Paphos District Court the following day, as previously reported. His lawyer’s letter now argues that continued detention is worsening his client’s already severe psychological state. The lawyer said the father wants to be released so that he and his wife can tell their five-year-old daughter that her brother has died. The letter states the couple have so far only told the girl that her brother is in hospital.
The lawyer’s letter states that the father appeared before Paphos District Court on July 13 in a state of what the lawyer described as unspeakable psychological shock and without legal representation, and did not object to the eight-day detention order sought by police because of his psychological condition. The letter adds that the father cooperated fully with investigators that day, voluntarily giving a statement setting out his account of events, and that relatives also gave statements to police the same day.
The letter argues that continued detention no longer serves any investigative purpose, stating that the part of the investigation the father could have influenced has already been completed. Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Savva v Police, Criminal Appeal 58/2026, dated March 6, 2026, the letter notes there is no fixed rule for how long a suspect should be held, tying the length of detention to the volume and nature of the investigative work still required. The ruling also states, according to the letter, that a suspect must be released if the police investigation is completed before a detention order expires.
On that basis, the lawyer’s letter requests the father’s immediate release. It notes that the father is a British national and, to address any flight-risk concerns, proposes that he be released under conditions he has voluntarily accepted: surrendering all his travel documents to police, reporting to sign in at Paphos Central Police Station on a specified day and time, and formally declaring his exact address in Cyprus to police in writing.
“He must be released today”
The father’s lawyer, Petros Stavrou, told philenews the letter was sent on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, and that he has not yet received a response. He said he proposed the surrender of travel documents as an alternative measure because police had raised concerns over the father’s status as a foreign national.
“He must be released immediately, if possible even today,” Stavrou said, adding that he saw no legal reason to keep the father in custody and questioning what purpose it would serve for the investigation.
Stavrou said the eight-day detention order against his client expires on Monday, July 20, 2026, but noted that police are obliged to release a suspect if the investigation is completed before that date, meaning the request for release rests on legal grounds as well as humanitarian ones.
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