A Greek court has rejected a second appeal by Bristol tiler John Hogan to return to England.

The court ruled Hogan, 34, needed further psychiatric treatment despite an improvement in his condition since he was cleared, on grounds of diminished mental responsibility, of murdering his six-year-old son Liam at a trial in Crete in January.

Hogan, of Bradley Stoke, pushed Liam and his sister, Mia, two, from the balcony of their Crete hotel before jumping himself after a row with his then wife, Natasha, in 2006. Mia survived.

In March a Bristol inquest found Hogan responsible for Liam's unlawful killing. Hogan has since won permission to challenge that verdict at the High Court.

Yesterday's hearing before a three-member Athens magistrate's court examined only the claim by Hogan's doctors and his family that it was safe to put him on a plane back to the UK, accompanied by a doctor and a police officer.

Lawyers and doctors for the Briton argued that he has made "remarkable improvement" and that it was "pointless" to keep him away from his English environment any longer.

After the hearing, they speculated that the court based its decision on a Greek legal clause which "recommends" a minimum three-year period of psychiatric treatment in cases similar to Hogan's.

"This clause is not binding, but the court obviously decided to play it safe," a lawyer for Hogan said.

"Mr. Hogan is obviously very saddened by this development," the lawyer said. "The entire family were optimistic that they would have spent Christmas and the New Year together in England. But his mother and sister are with him and we believe that they will help him overcome the shock".

Hogan's mother, Josephine, and his sister Gabriele have rented an apartment near the Athens hospital and visit him regularly.

His former wife Natasha has since remarried and moved to Australia to start a new life.

Hogan's former psychiatrist, Yannis Nestoras, the man who was instrumental in securing his unexpected acquittal at the January trial on Crete island, had been critical of the hospital's pursuit of an early release.

"I have always argued that if Mr. Hogan is released prematurely, before he has fully recovered, it would be a great danger for himself and those around him," doctor Nestoras had said in a recent interview. "Remember that he still considers himself responsible for his son's death and has constant notions of wanting to punish himself. In particular, he keeps saying that he wants to join his son in heaven. To put it simply, that means John could easily attempt suicide again if anything upsets or threatens him".

Dr Nestoras, a private practitioner and adviser for Korydallos prison where Hogan had been held for 17 months prior to trial, is no longer the Briton's psychiatrist since he is now monitored by a team within the Attica Psychiatric Hospital.

At the inquest, two British eye-witnesses also holidaying at the Crete hotel said they saw the father push the boy off the balcony before taking the girl and making the jump himself.