A City executive whose two-year-old son fell to his death from an open hotel window in Cyprus has walked free from court after pleading guilty to causing the tragedy.
asserted
son → fall → tragedy
Joshua Foster, 37, was told he will 'have guilt for the rest of his life' as the judge instead ordered him to pay a €3,000 (£2,531) fine as 'jail was not appropriate'.
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jail → tell → fine
As sentencing was passed on Friday morning, the father wept and hugged his lawyer after the sentence.
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father → pass → sentence
He then walked to his parents at the back of the courtroom, embraced them and said 'we can go home'.
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we → walk → them
After the hearing, Foster told reporters: 'Thank you for your support.
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Foster → tell → support
I'm just looking forward to going home and being home with my wife and daughter.'
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I → look → wife
He then walked away with his parents to collect his documents to leave Cyprus.
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He → walk → Cyprus
Judge Froso Christodoylidou said Foster would avoid jail but said she was imposing a €3,000 fine.
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she → say → fine
She said that the case was 'very serious' but there was no intention to kill and that she would accept his guilty plea, conduct, personal circumstances as mitigating factors.
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she → say → factors
Joshua Foster (right), a 37-year-old KPMG AI director pleaded guilty over the death of his two-year-old son, who died after falling from a hotel window in Cyprus
Pictured: The 4th floor window where a British two year old tragically fell to his death in Cyprus
Foster (centre) arrives at Paphos District Court in Cyprus for sentencing on October 16
'It is no exaggeration to say for rest of his life he will have guilt for losing his child in tragic way,' she said.
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she → plead → way
Summarising the case, Judge Christodoylidou said that the result of the accident was 'grief and sadness' and she had to assess the recklessness and personal circumstances.
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she → summarise → recklessness
'Whenever there is loss of life no sentence is satisfactory', she said.
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she → be → life
She acknowledged that even if the behaviour was reckless it was a mistake and that he did not realise the window was open.
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window → acknowledge → ?
Foster had consumed some drinks earlier in the day but the judge said this did not play a role in the accident.
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this → consume → accident
She said that he had no consciousness of danger and it 'all happened so fast'.
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it → say → danger
Judge Christodoylidou said that he had 'cooperated immediately' and saved the court time and all interested parties including his wife suffered and he had no criminal history.
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he → say → history
The judge added that there was 'no time to react to when the child slipped from his hands' during 'moments of relaxation and it was negligent not to check whether the window was open or closed.
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window → add → relaxation
However she said his conduct was an 'innocent mistake' and he 'will need to face his guilt for the rest of his life'.
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he → say → life
She said the case had caused 'lots of harm to his family', his career would be affected and and she felt jail was not appropriate.
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jail → say → family
However she said she 'cannot overlook the seriousness of the case' and fined him €3,000.
Foster, an AI director at KPMG, 'lost control' of the two-year-old while showing him the view of a water park from the fourth floor of the five-star hotel on July 12, Paphos District Court heard.
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Court → say → July
Foster, his father-in-law, and son were walking to the elevator when the toddler noticed the water park outside.
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toddler → walk → park
But Foster did not know the windows were open and 'lost control and contact with his son', who slipped and plunged 33ft.
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who → know → son
The father, from Essex, was arrested and held on remand.
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father → arrest → remand
He pleaded guilty last month to causing the death of his child, in the hope the authorities will show mercy and give him a suspended sentence that would allow him to return to the UK to grieve.
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him → plead → UK
The toddler was the third British tourist to die at the five-star King Evelthon Hotel near Paphos in four years
Mr Foster placed the toddler on a windowsill at the King Evelthon Hotel, near Paphos, not realising the window was open
After Foster's arrest, a blood sample was taken to detect alcohol or drugs which showed he had the equivalent to about one drink in his system
The boy fell from a 9ft by 4ft window at Cyprus's five-star King Evelthon Hotel near Paphos.
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boy → die → Paphos
He was the third British tourist to die at the hotel in four years.
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He → die → years
Foster 'saw the child falling, went downstairs with the lift and ran towards his son', finding him 'unconscious' on the veranda below.
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him → see → veranda
His wife, who cannot be named, was notified and raced to the scene where she 'held the child in her arms', prosecutor Chryso Pergandi said.
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Pergandi → name → arms
Despite efforts to resuscitate him, the boy had multiple skull fractures and could not be saved.
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boy → resuscitate → fractures
Foster arrived at the hotel near Paphos in the early hours of July 12 with his wife, son, five-year-old daughter and parents-in-law.
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Foster → arrive → law
After having drinks by the pool in the afternoon he returned to his room before going to the lift with his son and father-in-law to meet the rest of the family for dinner.
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he → have → dinner
Foster 'held his child in his arms, walked, played, just as any father would in a pleasant, joyous moment of their life while on vacation', Mr Alexandrou said.
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Alexandrou → hold → vacation
Some distance from the window, he 'was swinging the child in the air for fun' – but it was accepted this had no bearing on the case and occurred before the tragedy.
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this → swing → tragedy
Later, thinking there was 'protective glass' on the window, he momentarily placed his son on the windowsill 'to see the view' when he tragically fell.
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he → think → view
After Foster's arrest, a blood sample was taken to detect alcohol or drugs which showed he had 34mg of alcohol per 100ml – equivalent to about one drink.
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he → take → drink
Lab tests estimated that at the time of the accident it would have been 124mg – around four drinks – but this did not form a major part of the prosecution.
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this → estimate → prosecution
Foster was arrested and held on remand in what local media previously described as Cypriot police's 'cruellest act'.
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media → arrest → act
Of the toddler, a family member told the Daily Mail: 'He was a truly special, easy-going little boy who brought so much joy to everyone around him.
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who → tell → him
He was deeply adored and his infectious smile, warm cuddles and kind heart are already so deeply missed and always will be.'
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smile → adore → ?
At a hearing earlier this month, the father sat in the wooden dock and wept quietly as the facts about the case were read out.
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facts → sit → case
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
