A two-year-old boy died after falling from a hotel window in Cyprus, marking the third fatal incident involving British tourists at the King Evelthon Beach Hotel and Resort near Paphos in four years. The boy’s father, a 37-year-old City worker from Essex, has been charged with causing death by a rash, reckless, or dangerous act and appeared in court in Paphos this week. He remains banned from leaving Cyprus ahead of a trial expected to last several months.
According to court reports, the child fell approximately 10 meters from an open fourth-floor window on July 12. The father has denied allegations that he was swinging his son by the arms in a corridor outside their family room when the boy fell. The toddler’s death occurred on the first day of the family’s holiday. A toxicology report indicated the father had consumed one or two alcoholic drinks prior to the incident. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.
The father was held in custody for eight days before being released on bail following his arrest. During this period, his lawyer unsuccessfully requested his release so he could support his wife and their five-year-old daughter, including informing the child of her brother’s death in person. Instead, this difficult news was reportedly conveyed via FaceTime.
The resort has previously been the site of two other tragic deaths involving British visitors. In July 2022, 21-year-old Ben Woods from Leigh, Greater Manchester, drowned while playing volleyball in the hotel pool. Witnesses alleged lifeguards were inattentive at the time. The family pursued legal action but were told the case was considered a straightforward drowning with no criminal proceedings. In October 2023, six-year-old Ruaridh Nairne from Inverness also drowned in the same pool, discovered unconscious by his mother. Another death involving a woman swimming at the pool was reported in 2024.
The King Evelthon Hotel’s general manager, Antonis Sivitanidis, stated that all previous deaths were fully investigated by police and no fault was found on the part of the hotel. However, a British tribunal last year concluded that the resort did not hold the appropriate license for its swimming pool, a claim the hotel disputes.
A visit to the hotel shortly after the toddler’s accident found the window from which the boy fell remained open and unsecured. The hotel had placed no visible warnings about the hazard or restrictions on window openings. UK health and safety guidelines recommend that hotel windows accessible to children be limited to an opening no greater than 10 centimeters. In contrast, Cypriot regulations require windows to be above a ledge of at least 1.1 meters, a requirement the hotel asserts it meets.
Family members and friends described the ordeal as a profound tragedy compounded by the father’s detention and travel restrictions. Calls for a more thorough investigation of the hotel’s safety measures and management of previous incidents have been voiced by affected families and observers. Authorities from Cyprus Police and the Department of Labour Inspection have declined to comment publicly on ongoing legal matters.