A DISTRAUGHT John Hogan was wheeled out of an ambulance and straight into the glare of the media as he arrived at court in Crete yesterday.

He hobbled painfully into court, helped by police, where he was charged formally with the murder of his son and attempted murder of his daughter after he fell 50ft (15m) with them from a Greek hotel balcony.

He appeared dazed as he arrived, allowing himself to be carried up the stone steps in his wheelchair, facing onlookers who jeered him. Inside, he finally collapsed in the arms of his mother, Josephine, 64, weeping uncontrollably as he clutched her and another female relative.

Mr Hogan, 32, from Bristol, broke down repeatedly at the private hearing in Neapolis, Crete, before an investigating magistrate.

He was remanded in custody, less than 24 hours after his son, Liam, 6, was laid to rest in Bristol, and now faces months awaiting trial at the high-security Korydallos prison near Athens, which is home to some of Greece’s most notorious criminals. His trial is not expected to start until early next year.

According to the police indictment, Mr Hogan took Liam and his daughter, Mia, 2, into his arms after a furious argument with his wife, Natasha, in their hotel room and leapt off the balcony, plunging to the concrete four floors below.

Liam died after suffering massive head injuries in the fall, which happened two weeks ago in the seaside resort of Ierapetra. Mia survived, breaking her arm.

Judicial officials said that Mr Hogan expressed remorse during the closed-door hearing. “Mr Hogan appeared sad, but claimed he never intended to harm his children and loved them very much,” a court source said. “He also said that his son’s death was far worse punishment for him than even his own death would have been.”

Dimitris Xyritakis, his lawyer, said last night that he would plead that his client was in a “state of confusion” at the time. Since the incident, Mr Hogan has been under police guard at the University General Hospital in Heraklion, where he is still receiving treatment for arm, leg and chest injuries.

The case has shocked the Greeks and even those in positions of authority have not been afraid to make their views known. Yesterday many onlookers jeering outside the court shared the uncompromising view of one Cretan hospital manager, who soon after the incident said that if Mr Hogan survived his ordeal he would do well to kill himself in shame.

Christos Papageorgopoulos, the investigating magistrate, rejected a bail request by Mr Xyritakis. The lawyer said that his defendant had no criminal record and had been known by neighbours in Bristol as a loving father.

Mr Papageorgopoulos said that the evidence against Mr Hogan was “extremely serious”.

Mr Xyritakis said that the prosecutor had also ordered an immediate psychiatric examination of Mr Hogan. “If this shows he was not in a sane state of mind and this is accepted by the court at his trial, he will not be jailed,” Mr Xyritakis said. “He will be sent to a mental institution.”

A police source said that Mr Hogan had told the prosecutor that suicide ran in his family and that two of his brothers had killed themselves.

In his initial testimony two weeks ago Mr Hogan claimed to have been “stinking drunk” when his wife threatened to leave him and take the children with her, after a blazing row that was heard throughout the hotel. He said that he was also taking antidepressants.

His wife has since denied that her husband was drunk.

The Foreign Office confirmed that Mr Hogan had been charged formally with the murder of Liam, the attempted murder of Mia and attempted suicide.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum of 25 years in jail.

LIFE INSIDE HIGH-SECURITY PRISON

In the late 1990s prisoners rioted over poor food and medical care, taking staff hostage

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