Mother tells inquest about day son plunged from hotel
The mother of a six-year-old boy who died after plunging 50ft to his death from a hotel balcony told an inquest today of rows she had with her ex-husband on the day of the tragedy.
Liam Hogan, from Bristol, died of severe head injuries after falling four floors from the Petra Mare Hotel, in Crete, with his father, John, and sister, Mia, then aged two.
Giving evidence at his inquest, Liam’s mother, Natasha, confirmed she had remarried her partner Richard Visser.
Saying she now wished to be addressed as Natasha Visser, she told how Hogan had threatened to “burn their house” to the ground on the day of the tragedy.
Regarding much of a statement she made in a Greek court earlier this year, the 35-year-old said: “On the morning, John came to me and asked if I was still due to go to my mother’s house. I said: 'yes, maybe I will'. He was getting very agitated.
“Liam was at the holiday club, Mia was in the pool – he (Hogan) said he could not be around us and went off to jetski.
“He came back and said he would look after the children. Then I don’t know what time he returned to the room – but he was very agitated. He came back shouting at me, saying we cannot break up.
“I kept saying I did not want to do this now – this made Liam upset – he started crying. I told him we should not have this conversation in front of him.”
Mrs Visser told how Hogan appeared more “lucid” when he eventually joined them for dinner.
She added: "He started talking to Liam, saying there was going to be a football match tonight. I told John: 'Thank you for joining us - this means a lot'. I said we needed time to talk.”
Later that evening, Mrs Visser claimed Hogan was growing increasingly agitated about their proposed divorce.
She said: “He said he was not living with his mum. He was saying I should go and that if I stayed in the house with the children, he would burn it to the ground.”
She later explained how Liam was upset by the rows but told her: “If you and Dad want to split up – that’s OK’.”
She said: “Liam was due to go to a DVD party but he didn’t want to because he was so upset.”
