A 6-year-old boy who died when he was pushed from a hotel balcony by his father in Crete was unlawfully killed, a coroner said in Bristol, England, yesterday.

Liam Hogan died from head injuries when he fell from a fourth-floor room at the Petra Mare Hotel in 2006.

His sister Mia, then aged 2, survived with broken bones.

The children’s father, John, who also survived the fall, was cleared of murder at a trial in Crete in January.

The 33-year-old from Bristol was committed to a psychiatric unit for at least three years. But the Bristol coroner concluded that the boy was unlawfully killed, adding that his findings did not have to be consistent with court judgments outside of the United Kingdom.

“The facts were abundantly clear, in that the children were seen to be pushed off the balcony... In other words, the mere act committed was in itself unlawful on the basis of common sense, as death resulted,” said Coroner Paul Forrest.