A NEWPORT nurse watched today as her former husband told a Greek murder trial he had not intended to kill their son when he jumped with his children from a hotel balcony.

Natasha Hogan was giving evidence on the first day of John Hogan's trial on the Greek island of Crete.

Hogan, 34, from Bristol, plunged from the four star Petra Mare hotel in Crete with his son Liam, six, and daughter Mia, then aged two, during a family holiday in August 2006.

Liam died from massive head injuries. Mia survived with a broken her arm.

Hogan went on trial in Crete on Monday charged with murder and attempted suicide. Denying the murder charge, he told the Criminal Court in the port town of Chania: "I do not accept the charge that I planned to kill my children." He added, in a voice cracking with emotion: "I did not plan it,"

But after hearing his plea, the jury of three men and a woman selected to sit alongside the three judges, heard from Hogan's wife, who described a threat he had made.

Mrs Hogan, 35, now divorced from the defendant, told the court her husband told her: "If you are going to live in a house with the children I will burn it to the ground."

The tragic events unfolded midway through a two-week break at the 227-bed hotel, which overlooks the beach of Lerapetra, in Crete. Hogan, then 32, had been rowing with his wife before he jumped. All three were taken to Heraklion University Hospital.

Liam, who Hogan hurled over first, was declared dead despite his mother's frantic attempts to resuscitate him. Mia had only a broken arm because she was being held by her father as they landed.

Hogan, who ran a tiling business in Bristol, was charged with murder and attempted murder.