Doctors face Rhodes death retrial

Christopher Rochester died in hospital in Rhodes

Three doctors cleared on appeal over the manslaughter of a County Durham man who died in a Greek hospital could face a retrial over his death.

Christopher Rochester, 24, died in 2000 after falling from a balcony on Rhodes.

Doctors Stergios Pavlidis, Georgos Karavolias and Mihalis Sokorelos were sentenced to three years in jail, but were later cleared on appeal.

The Supreme Court in Athens has now ruled the appeal should be overturned and a new trial held in June 2007.

The final decision will be made by Greece's equivalent of the House of Lords.

Kidney missing

Mr Rochester, of Chester-le-Street, died of internal bleeding at the Andreas Papandreou Hospital.

He had been left on a hospital trolley for three hours following a fall from a hotel balcony.

His kidney was also missing when his body was returned to Britain.

Mr Rochester's stepfather, George Cummings, said: "We knew that if justice was done that appeal ruling would be overturned by the Supreme Court and those three doctors would face justice again."

Any retrial will be held in Athens and Mr Cummings believes the family will finally see justice done.