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The Times October 11, 2006

Woman ‚pushed over hotel balcony by her boyfriend‘
From John Carr in Athens and Steve Bird

A BRITISH woman who claimed that she was pushed off a hotel balcony by her boyfriend during an argument was in a critical condition in a Greek hospital last night.

Sarah Maskell, 34, who is believed to be pregnant, fell about 20ft from a second-floor room in the Stelios Gardens Hotel in the resport of Malia in Crete and was impaled on a steel rod.

It is understood that the rod entered her leg and then pierced her chest. Ms Maskell suffered a punctured lung in the incident, which happened at 2am yesterday. The condition of the baby was unclear.

Ms Maskell was cut free by firefighters and taken to Heraklion University Hospital where she was on a life support machine after suffering multiple external and internal injuries.

Police said Ms Maskell claimed that her boyfriend, who they did not name, beat her and pushed her off the balcony. He has denied the allegation but was charged on Monday night with attempted murder. His five-year-old son from a previous marriage confirmed her account, police said.

A police statement said: “When the metal rod pierced her it was impossible to move her. Firemen had to cut the rod before she could be rushed to hospital.”

The couple, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had been on the island 24 hours and had been drinking.

Holidaymakers were reported to have been woken by screams. One was quoted as saying: “It would appear that the little boy witnessed the whole thing.”

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that a woman had been seriously injured after falling from a second-floor balcony. He said that her next of kin had been informed.

“We can also confirm that a British national has been arrested in connection with the incident and appeared before the public prosecutor yesterday morning. He has been charged with attempted murder and is currently in detention.”

The spokesman added that the man’s relatives had been informed and that consular assistance was being offered to both.

Police are investigating whether the incident was a copy of an incident in August when John Hogan, a British businessman, jumped from his fourth-floor hotel room on the island with his two children, after a row with his wife. Mr Hogan’s six-year-old son, Liam, was killed in the fall and his two-year-old daughter, Mia, seriously injured.

Mr Hogan, 32, spent days under guard in Heraklion University Hospital before appearing in court on a charge of murder. His lawyers claimed that since his arrest he had tried to kill himself.

Ms Maskell’s boyfriend could face a similar charge and, if convicted, faces possible life imprisonment.

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