Greece balcony leap father 'threw his children down first', claims damning new British witness

The explosive testimony - which directly contradicts Hogan's own evidence - can be revealed as it was announced that he could be free in Britain within three months.

The jury at Hogan's murder trial ruled he fell 50ft with his six-year-old son Liam and two-year-old daughter Mia in his arms during an "earthquake" of insanity.

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Liam died, while Mia and Hogan survived with minor injuries.

But the Daily Mail can reveal that at least one of ten new British witnesses has told police that, contrary to Hogan's claims in court, the 33-year-old pushed his children off the balcony ledge before leaping himself.

The new testimony adds to a growing list of concerns about the thoroughness of the Greek trial.

Hogan turned killer during an argument with his then wife Natasha while on a family holiday in Ierapetra, Crete, in August 2006.

At his trial in the Cretan town of Chania last month, Hogan claimed not to remember how he, Liam and Mia fell from the balcony.

He told the court: "All I remember is being sat on the balcony with my two children sat in my arms sleeping.

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He added: "I must have jumped with my two children in my arms."

Mia was previously thought to have survived because she was held by her father and cushioned from the full impact of the fall.

However, if the new evidence is correct, she may have survived because she landed on grass, unlike Liam, who landed on concrete.

The Greek jury ruled that Hogan was insane at the time of the incident and therefore not guilty of murder nor attempted murder.

He was ordered to be held in a secure psychiatric hospital in Greece until he recovers - a recovery that now appears to be almost complete.

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However, a Daily Mail invesevertigation can reveal that Hogan's chaotic day-and-a-half-long trial appears to have fallen well short of English standards of justice.

Around ten British holidaymakers, who had gathered in front of the Petra Mare hotel in preparation for their return to the UK, saw the incident.

However, the group was flown home before they had a chance to talk to Greek police.

Since their return, their evidence has been collated by detectives from Hogan's home police force in Avon and Somerset.

A police source has revealed that at least one of these holidaymakers recalls seeing someone push the two children off the balcony.

Hogan himself was allegedly seen throwing himself off the balcony some seconds later, the source claims.

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Avon and Somerset police have confirmed that the British witness statements were sent to Greece police.

Astonishingly, no mention of then was made in court.

Avon coroner Paul Forrest said he will hear the new witnesses' evidence at the inquest in Liam's death, which is due to reopen this spring.

Yesterday-Athanasios Kosmopoulos, director of the Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, where Hogan is being kept, said that he is "showing encouraging signs of recovery".

He added: "He is in good health, is communicative with the staff and other patients and often goes for walks in the gardens of the hospital."

He confirmed that Hogan's family have requested that he be returned to Britain and said that Greek magistrates could agree to that within three to six months.

Natasha's new husband Richard Visser described the news as "devastating".

A source close to Natasha, 35, added: "This is the exactly what she was fearing the most - that John will come home, without a spot of guilt and may try to re-involve himself with Mia."