A British father has avoided a prison sentence for causing the death of his toddler son who fell from a window in Cyprus.
Joshua Foster appeared at Paphos District Court on Friday for sentencing, where he was fined €3,000 (£2,500).
The 37-year-old, a senior accountant at KPMG, had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death through a reckless, rash or dangerous act.
The two-year-old boy fell nearly 40 feet from the fourth-floor window of the King Evelthon Beach Hotel and Resort in Chlorakas on 12 July.
Prosecutor Chryso Perganti earlier said that the toddler was pronounced dead in hospital a couple of hours after his fall, having suffered multiple skull and bone fractures and damage to his vital organs.
Foster wore a light blue shirt and held back tears as his sentence was read out on Friday by District Judge Froso Christodoulidou.
After the 25-minute hearing, Foster hugged his lawyer before embracing his parents.
The court previously heard that Foster thought the window was closed when he placed the boy on a sill to show him the view and “lost control” of him.
“That fraction of a second will haunt him for the rest of his life,” his lawyer Alexandros Alexandrou told judge Froso Christodoulidou during mitigation proceedings.
“This is punishment he and his family will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
Foster, his wife, two children, and in-laws had arrived in Cyprus in the early hours of 12 July.
After spending the day doing activities, the family returned to their rooms to get ready to go out for dinner.
Foster, his father-in-law and son left their rooms and walked towards the elevator at around 6pm.
As they approached the lift, the boy noticed a waterpark outside, Mr Alexandrou told an earlier hearing.
Foster pushed the elevator button, placed the child on the windowsill, the boy looked out, and the “inconceivable” happened before Foster had a chance to react, the court was told.
After the incident, Foster was taken to Paphos General Hospital and a blood sample to detect drugs and alcohol was taken.
It was said that that during the time of the incident – by this point around six hours earlier – the alcohol concentration in his blood was an estimated 124mg.
The alcohol consumption did not form a significant part of the case against the defendant, and his lawyer said there was no testimony that he was drunk.
The lawyer told the court that Foster has no previous convictions and his remorse “is clear”.
He said he was held in custody for eight days immediately after the incident, adding that while grieving his child he had to call his daughter from custody to explain what had happened.
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