'Crazed look' before balcony fall

The trial is expected to end on Wednesday

The ex-wife of a man who fell from a fourth floor hotel balcony with their two children has spoken of the "crazed look" he gave her moments before.

John Hogan, 33, from Bradley Stoke, near Bristol, is accused of murdering Liam, six, by leaping 50ft (15m) from the window in Crete in 2006 with him.

Mr Hogan's then two-year-old daughter Mia survived the fall.

Mr Hogan denies the charges of murder and attempted suicide. The trial was adjourned until Wednesday.

Denying the murder charge, he told the court in the port town of Hania: "I do not accept the charge that I planned to kill my children."

Angry and agitated

Earlier the court heard ex-wife Natasha speak of how the couple's marriage had been breaking down.

Mrs Hogan said her ex-husband worked hard to care for his family but since the birth of their two children, he had become depressed and unhelpful.

Mrs Hogan said that on the day of the incident her husband had become increasingly angry and agitated.

She said: "I asked him to calm down because the kids were there. I bathed the children and then took them down to dinner."

He stared at me with a crazed look and started shouting Natasha Hogan Parents' courtroom encounter

She described how Mr Hogan kept coming down to the restaurant in an increasingly "angry" mood.

She told the court that she decided to take the children home early and returned to the hotel room to pack the suitcases.

She said: "He stared at me with a crazed look and started shouting."

She turned her back on him and continued packing but when she turned back around Mr Hogan and the children were gone.

Mr Hogan's lawyers had argued he was not mentally fit to stand trial after a series of suicide attempts and should be held in a psychiatric unit.

Psychiatric reports in November 2007 found Mr Hogan was fit to stand trial.

Mrs Hogan has given evidence for the prosecution

Professor Iannis Nestoros, a consultant psychiatrist from the University Of Crete, who has been treating Mr Hogan, gave evidence in court.

Speaking afterwards, he told the BBC: "In my opinion, at the time, he was not himself. He was suffering from an acute psychotic episode, in other words he was doing things which were out of his character."

In a statement issued after the adjournment on Monday Mrs Hogan said: "It is somewhat of a shock that the court has been unable to get to a point where they can reach a verdict in this case.

"I suspect that both sides of the family and John himself will find it very difficult over the next couple of days."

The case is due to resume on Wednesday.