The trial of a father, who killed his young son when he plunged from a hotel balcony with his two children in Crete, was adjourned until Wednesday, a Greek judge said.

"The court adjourned just before the defendant would testify and will resume on Wednesday," the defendant's lawyer, Dimitris Xyritakis told reporters.

John Hogan, 34, from Bristol, England, denied killing six year-old son Liam and attempting to kill his daughter Mia, after jumping with them from the fourth floor of the hotel in the town of Ierapetra in Crete, while on holiday in August 2006.

Xyritakis argued Hogan was mentally incapable of understanding his actions at the time and should be found innocent because of his "burdened psychological state".

"I can't foretell the court's decision, but I hope that our main argument will be accepted by the court," Xyritakis said.

Hogan's ex-wife Natasha Steele told the court Hogan was mentally unsound at the time and not in control of his actions and that he was probably affected by a history of suicide in his family.

Joannis Nestoros, a professor of psychiatry, said he believed Hogan thought he was "sending his family to heaven" by jumping off the balcony.

He added: "He was away from reality. He did not know what he was doing. It was not his intention to harm the children. He thought he would be able to take his children to heaven. This was not logical."

Before the trial police officer Russ Jones, representing Hogan's ex-wife, told reporters outside the court that Mia had fully recovered from the injuries and that she was in regular contact with Hogan's family.

He said Steele hoped the contact would continue whatever the outcome of the court case.

Hogan had told a prosecutor after he was arrested that suicide ran in his family, with one brother taking a drug overdose a decade ago while another jumped off a bridge in the city of Bristol.

His lawyer said Hogan did not remember what happened on the day he jumped from the balcony apart from a verbal argument with his wife who had threatened to take his children away and go live with her mother.

Reuters