The man who hurled himself and his children off a hotel balcony in Greece, killing his son Liam, today told a court that he felt no guilt for what he had done because he was not sane at the time.

John Hogan, who remains on medication for his mental health problems, was giving his first ever public account of what happened that night. He sobbed throughout his testimony and repeatedly mumbled the word 'Sorry'.

In electrifying evidence to the court in Chania, Crete, where he denies murder and attempted murder, Mr Hogan said that he wanted to send a message to his former wife and her mother who were behind him as he sat in the dock.

"You both know that sane John Hogan wouldn't do what he did," wept Hogan.

"So, please - don't judge me for that one action. If there was any way I could bring my son back, I would.

"I feel no guilt because I didn't do it. I feel no guilt whatsoever. This person stood before you isn't the person who jumped from the balcony on the fourth floor."

As he announced that he felt no guilt for his actions because he had been mad at the time, his ex-wife, Natasha, broke down in the public gallery and was led from the court in tears.

Hogan's defence team have called witnesses to prove that he suffered an overwhelming psychotic episode on the night at the Petra Mare hotel two years ago when he rowed with his wife in front of their two children, Liam and Mia, two, as their marriage foundered.

Joannis Nestoros, a psychiatrist from the University of Crete, said: “He was away from reality. He did not know what he was doing. It was not his intention to harm the children.

“He thought he would be able to take his children to heaven. This was not logical.”

In court today, Hogan claimed that "superb" mental health treatment in Greece since his arrest had established that his problems that night had stemmed from having stopped attending counselling, and from a fear of facing reality.

The former owner of a tiling business near Bristol has attempted suicide four times while on remand in an Athens jail. Asked about his suicide bids in court today, he said he had been trying to get to his son. He said: "My son is in paradise, in heaven.

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