Nikos Mallios received a four-year prison sentence for health and safety violations that led to the deaths of Jessica Hayes, 15, and Mikey Connelly, 13, in 2020 during a parasailing trip.
The father of a schoolgirl who died along with her cousin in a parasailing tragedy in Greece today welcomed the “first steps towards justice” after the boat operator was jailed.
Tony Hayes called it a “positive step in the right direction” after aquatics boss Nikos Mallios, 57, was convicted of failings that led to the deaths of his daughter Jessica, 15, and Mikey Connelly, 13. The couple died in October 2020 after Mallios took them out to sea in his speedboat despite an approaching storm.
Mikey’s older brother James, then 15, miraculously survived but spent two weeks in a coma. A three-member panel of the Rhodes Misdemeanors Court was told that the rope tying them to Mr Mallios’ speedboat had “come loose”. The boat chased the paraglider before it sank into the water, where witnesses hoped to rescue the teenagers from the sea. But a “gust of wind” caught it and sent Jessica, Mikey and James crashing onto rocks near Lindos, Rhodes.
Mallios was found guilty today of breaching health and safety laws during the tragedy and sentenced to four years in prison. He was temporarily released after indicating he would appeal. In October he will face two more serious charges – manslaughter by serial negligence and grievous bodily harm by serial negligence – when he appears before a higher court in Kos.
But Tony, 43, welcomed the first conviction, saying: “It’s the first step on the road to justice. It’s a positive step in the right direction, one that Jess and Mikey will look down on and be proud of. “I’m happy that a long sentence has been handed down. “However, the fight will continue and the next step is to take this to the high court and make the sentence even longer.
“But it doesn’t take away the loss. It doesn’t change the fact that Jess isn’t here. It doesn’t change the fact that Mikey isn’t here. It doesn’t change the fact that our lives have been ruined.
“We still have some way to go. Although the result moves us forward, it does not eliminate the void left after the loss.” And the family’s Greek lawyer, George Moschos, said: “The sentence reflects the scale and severity of Mallios’ failings.”
Mallios took the stand and finally apologized for the tragedy, saying, “I want to apologize to the families.” But he denied any wrongdoing and tried to justify breaking rules prohibiting parasailing with three seats and transporting children under 14. He also denied breaching guidelines by operating in bad weather and leaving a designated water sports area.
But today the Greek justice system rejected his denials and imposed an “important sentence” on him. Tony, from Corby, Northants, said: “I look [Mallios] and I don’t think I’ve done everything I can to do this. They have also devastated his life.
“However, he continues to defend some of his actions that day. I understand that he feels bad and guilty, but to me, the apology would mean more if he simply admitted that he made a mistake. If he admitted that he did something wrong.”
Tony went to the Greek island in 2020 with his wife Kayleigh, 39, for his father-in-law Phil’s surprise 65th birthday. The couple were on holiday with Kayleigh’s brother Phillip Connelly and his wife Sharon, parents of James and Mikey. In the days before the accident, Jessica, Mikey and James played games and watched bands at the hotel. Jessica told her parents the day before she died that it was “the best vacation she had ever had.”
On October 28 they booked Mr Mallios’ boat in Lardos Bay after seeing the board rides at the hotel. The family said goodbye at 12:30 p.m. on the beach in front of the hotel, but they were never seen again. The Rhodes Court heard the rope “came loose” and Mallios began chasing the paraglider as “black clouds and dark skies” rolled in. A witness on the boat, which had been lifted into the air moments earlier, said he was “relieved” when the paraglider carrying the three teenagers began to “drift and land in the water.”
But he broke down in tears when he told the court that a “gust of wind caught the paraglider.” She told the court: “We were speeding towards the children for about two or three minutes. It had started to descend and landed in the water. We were relieved and thought we would be able to get them on board. But then a gust of wind caught the paraglider and dragged it back up.”
Jessica, Mikey and James eventually crashed onto rocks at Cape Ginas, about 5 kilometers from where they left shore. The British tourist also stated that they were told they could go hiking, but “we had to go immediately.”
She told the court: “They said we could go, but we had to go immediately because there was a storm coming and if we wanted to go, we had to go right now.” Other witnesses said they were on the water when a “terrible” storm hit, causing the water to become “quite rough.”
Another witness told how his three children, aged just 12, nine and seven, had been taken on a paragliding trip in the days before the tragedy. He said he had been told repeatedly that “it was the end of the season and a storm was coming.” He told the court: “So if we wanted to do any water sports we had to do it soon because it was about to close.”
Despite being at the center of a criminal investigation, Mallios was free to continue operating from the same location where he picked up Jessica, Mikey and James. In 2022, the Mirror revealed that he was taking boat after boat of thrill seekers out to sea on €75 excursions. Our exclusive pictures showed him launching his neon yellow speedboat emblazoned with the word “parasailing” on the hull.
This week, the Mirror accompanied Tony as he returned to the place where Jessica first lost her life. And he also returned to the same beach where he said goodbye to Jessica and told her: “We love you.” In an exclusive interview, Tony said: “I never want anyone to have to experience something as traumatic as this. Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen. I need to relive parts of it so I can process it.”
