Balcony plunge father attempts suicide

The father who leapt from a hotel balcony with his two young children in his arms has attempted suicide in prison.

John Hogan slashed his wrists with a ragged-edged cigarette lighter and a broken glass just days after appearing in a Greek court accused of murdering his six-year-old son.

The father-of-two was supposed to have been on suicide watch in a prison psychiatric ward, but managed to grab a plastic drinking glass, break it and attempt to cut both his wrists.

When that failed he picked up a cigarette lighter with a sharp edge and in view of another patient succeeded in cutting both wrists.

He was rushed to hospital where he was operated on and his distraught mother Josephine, 64, rushed to his bedside.

He is expected to be returned to Korydallos prison shortly. The suicide attempt comes just days after the emotionally broken Hogan limped into court, supported by two policemen and wept as he said:

he leapt from a hotel balcony with his two young children because he could not live without them.

He was on a two-week holiday with his wife and two children when he made the horrifying plunge on August 15 at a luxury hotel in Ierapetra, southern Crete.

The 50ft plunge killed Liam almost instantly, but his two-year-old sister Mia survived with only a broken arm.

There were already fears that Hogan may try to take his own life. He was not told of Liam's funeral this week because doctors feared he was too mentally fragile and both his own lawyer and medical staff said they feared he would attempt suicide.

A prison official, denied claims that Hogan had used an actual glass, claiming rather that it was hard transparent plastic, and that when that failed he instead used the rough edge of a cigarette lighter. "When he saw that it could not serve his intentions of slashing his wrists, he then grabbed a lighter and used a rough edge it had on the top. He lost blood but not enough to make him lose consciousness or cause any serious damage."

articolo su daily mail