Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released

Leighton Richardson arrested in Tenerife after his girlfriend was found dying in a pool of blood at her apartment has been released from custody after being held since Christmas Eve.Before making his bail decision the judge studied police information which – despite earlier reports – said no baseball bat had been found at her flat.
But while investigations continue Leighton Richardson, born in Wrexham and who grew up in Mold, remains a suspect.He has been ordered to report daily to the court at Arona, on the holiday island’s south coast, where the investigating judge in charge of the case is based.Richardson has also had to surrender his passport to the court.
He was arrested in the early hours of Christmas Eve after Lisa McConway, 28, from Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland, was found by police at her flat in the brash resort of Playa de las Americas.She was in a critical condition and had severe bruising to much of her body.She was rushed to hospital but died at 1pm that day.Reports said police had gone to the flat after neighbours telephoned just after 3am to report a violent row was taking place.

The investigating judge decided to grant Richardson “provisional liberty” – the Spanish term for bail – after studying a written report by pathologists following an autopsy.

The experts were reported as concluding Miss McConway, who had a British passport, could have died either as the result of a beating or following a fall, it was reported yesterdayAlthough her injuries were consistent with an attack the autopsy revealed she suffered from a blood clotting condition which could cause extensive bruising as the result of a fall, court sources told local journalists.Before making his bail decision the judge had also studied a police report which despite earlier reports said that no baseball bat had been found at Miss McConway’s flat.Nor had any witnesses been found to back-up the claim reportedly made by the initial caller a serious row had taken place.
But two witnesses had said earlier Miss McConway had been “drinking a lot” and they had seen her “drunk”. The witnesses said she had fallen down opening a gash in her head.For his part

Richardson had emphatically denied throughout his time in police custody and later at a closed door hearing in front of the investigating judge he had beaten Miss McConway.

Following Miss McConway’s death Jose Antonio Batista, the Spanish Interior Ministry representative in Tenerife, described the scene which greeted officers at her apartment as a “Dantesque spectacle”.He was quoted as telling local reporters: “All the furniture was overturned and there was blood on the floor and the walls.”The official also said Miss McConway had telephoned Richardson, who lived elsewhere, at 3am last Wednesday to say she felt unwell. The boyfriend arrived shortly afterwards at her flat.Reports yesterday said the couple’s young son would be handed over to Richardson on his release.

Family of Lisa McConway are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home

family of Lisa McConway, the 28-year-old woman bludgeoned to death in Playa de Las Américas on Christmas Eve, are due to arrive on the island early next week to take care of her young son and fly her body home.Lisa McConway died after being attacked with a baseball bat in her apartment in Palo Blanco in the early hours of the morning. Neighbours say they heard a massive row in the apartment before her body was found

Fuengirola Mafia boss arrested

Guardia Civil officers, in collaboration with the Italian Arma de Carabinieri, have arrested a 44-year-old member of the mafia-like criminal organisation, the Camorra, in Fuengirola. The man is an important member of the Clan Mariano of the Naples Camorra, and has had an arrest warrant on him for 17 years.The police operation was launched thanks to information the Guardia Civil received from the Arma de Carabinieri. The intelligence revealed that an important Camorra hitman who had escaped from Italy could be living on the Costa del SolOfficers from the Guardia Civil’s Team Against Organised Crime (ECO) along with Carabinieri officers from Naples in Italy searched for the man in areas where they suspected he was. The officers knew that the suspect was living on the Costa del Sol and used public cyber-cafés to contact other members of the Camorra.The camorrist was finally arrested at the entrance of a cyber-café thanks to a picture provided by the Arma de Carabinieri.

Captured Trainer gang which smuggles coke into Spain

The drugs were being smuggled from Argentina concealed inside specially adapted shoes that were worn by a couple in their late fifties who were arrested at Valencia's Manises airport on Christmas Day after stepping off a plane from Buenos Aires in possession of 1.6kg of uncut cocaine.

Five members of a gang that has been smuggling cocaine into Spain by hiding it inside training shoes, have been arrested. The couple's two sons and a third individual responsible have since also been detained. It seems that the gang has been operating for some time and also trafficked a variety of other recreational drugs for sale in the Balearic Islands, mainly Ibiza.

Paul Hickey is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.

Hickey, is currently serving 15 years at Fontcalent jail, one of Spain's toughest penitentiaries.Sandra Conroy said she would block any attempt by Paul Hickey to move to an Irish prison for the rest of his sentence.He was sentenced in November when he admitted battering Celine (26) to death at their holiday home on the Costa Del Sol three years ago. He can apply to be transferred to an Irish prison, but this would have to be approved by both the Spanish and Irish authorities."I'm still in contact with my solicitor, it's still not over for me," Sandra said."I'll keep up the fight if there is any way they can even consider letting him come home. If it's the courts or the Dail, I'll tie myself to the railings if I have to to keep him in Spain."
Sandra remains sceptical about claims Hickey (31) has made about being stabbed repeatedly in jail.She said she was sickened by a recent press interview he gave complaining of conditions at the notorious prison."He said he'd been stabbed in prison, but I didn't see any marks on him when he was in court," Sandra said. "It was all about himself and how hard he was having it."Meanwhile, Sandra has said she is still haunted by Hickey's sneering attitude as he was sentenced.The family spent Christmas together and visited Celine's grave in Glasnevin.

National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle

National Police and the Guardia Civil have reported that the charred body of a man has been found in a burned out vehicle in inland from Villajoyosa .The car and body were found on a piece of wasteland last Tuesday in an area known as Partida Ripalmes .The identity of the man remains unknown and the police have not released any further details .Both the National Police and the Guardia Civil have joined forces to try and solve the possible crime .It is possible that the death was an accident but it could also be murder .A post -mortem will be carried out this week .

Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick

Diario Sur newspaper reports that the Guardia Civil are looking for two un-named British people in connection with the disappearance a year ago of the Irish youngster Amy Fitzpatrick from Mijas Costa. One of the people wanted for questioning is a man, another a woman, and both are said to be in the United Kingdom although it is reported that they don’t know each other. They are under investigation at the request of Amy’s family.Amy’s mother Audrey says in an interview with the paper that it has been the longest year of her life, and that it is impossible to stop thinking about Amy. She says she is living a nightmare but has not given up hope of being reunited with her daughter.

Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home . Irish woman, resident on Tenerife

The 28 year woman, named as Lisa McConway, who has family living in Dublin, was found unconscious at her home near Playa de las Americas in Tenerife.She died this afternoon after allegedly being hit by her boyfriend with a baseball bat, which the aggressor then through out the window.British woman, resident on Tenerife, is the victim of the latest domestic violence tragedy in Spain.Her beaten body was found in Urbanisation Palo Blanco in Playa de las Américas in the south of Tenerife, after neighbours heard the fight and called 091, and reports indicate that she died from her injuries on the way to hospital. The alleged aggressor, also British, was arrested at the scene and police say there were signs of a fight in several rooms of the flat.The case is being instructed by Court Number 7 in Arona.Police have arrested the woman's boyfriend who has been named as Leighton Richardson.The 28-year-old, who has been named as Lisa M, was discovered in an apartment block in the Playa de las Americas resort.According to statements made by her boyfriend, the victim phoned him at around 3am GMT on Wednesday morning and asked him to go to her apartment because she was feeling ill.
After the boyfriend arrived at the flat in the Pala Blanco housing development, the couple are believed to have had a fight.Police were called when neighbours heard a violent row.It is thought that the woman, who had been beaten with a baseball bat, had suffered a cardiac arrest.She was taken to a local hospital where she died at around midday Christmas Day.A post-mortem examination has taken place but the results have not yet been released.Her boyfriend has been arrested after apparently giving conflicting statements to police, and for the marks on the woman's body.Further details of her identity have not yet been released as Foreign Office staff attempt to contact her family.Her father Jim McConway, speaking from the family home in Blackrock in Dublin last night, said they had received very little information about the death

Leighton Richardson

Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.

Spanish police smashed an international drug ring that trafficked cocaine from Peru to Israel and via several other countries, including Spain.Port of Barcelona authorities, as part of a joint operation with Peruvian, Israeli, U.S. and Bahamas police, seized 674 kilograms of cocaine shipped from Peru on a vessel bound for Jordan’s Aqaba port. The drugs had been stuffed into an industrial paper shredder.
In early December, Caribbean, Peruvian and Spanish police intercepted cocaine shipments hidden in lead-plated heavy machinery designed to fool airport x-ray security scans.A month prior, Peru’s police drug enforcement unit, Dirandro, carried out four simultaneous raids in Lima’s districts of Miraflores, Ate, Chorrillos and San Isidro, seizing more than half a ton of cocaine. Five people were arrested, including four Peruvians and an Israeli national.Spain is Europe’s main entry point for cocaine from South America, although large quantities are now transported via West Africa. And, according to a UN Office on Drugs and crime report published in January, Spain has become the top consumer of cocaine in continental Europe.

65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.

65-year-old father Robert Orchard had done a deal with drug-traffickers in his home town of Marbella.He agreed to hide the drugs under the bed on which Cheyrl, of Denny, Stirlingshire, and her eight-year-old son had been sleeping.On Monday a jury at Canterbury Crown Court consisting of seven women and five men found her not guilty of drug importation.Her father pleaded guilty.Innocent Cheyrl was flown out to the Costa Del Crime by her father, but while she was sunbathing the gang was stashing the chocolate-coloured blocks into the camper-van.Robert Orchard cynically took the pair to EuroDisney knowing full well they were sleeping only inches above the consignment.Cheyrl told the court she knew nothing of her father’s plot to smuggle the drugs through Europe to Ireland.After the jury unanimously found her not guilty, she spoke of her loathing of the father who risked her freedom in a sordid drugs deal.She said: “I thought it was a routine Customs stop. I had no idea there were drugs on board.“I have only contempt for my father, who used us. It is
supposed to be the time of goodwill to all men, but I doubt if any goodwill I have will extend to him.“As far as I’m concerned I haven’t got a father and my son hasn’t got a grandfather.“I thought the authorities were going to take my boy away from me. I couldn’t think about Christmas, but now I’ll be able to celebrate it with my son.
“I don’t care about my dad – he’ll be spending his Christmas behind bars.”But it wasn’t all comfort and joy for Cheyrl as she was fined £200 for breaking her bail by smoking in a prohibited area outside the front door of the court on Friday.She apologised and told Judge Michael O’Sullivan she had been under a great deal of strain.The judge accepted her apology but told her the restriction was put in place to stop her accidently bumping into jurors.Robert Orchard is due to be sentenced next week.

British man stabbed during shooting incident near Tarragona thought the shooting, which involved four people, was linked to drug trafficking

British person has been injured in a shooting incident in L’Ametlla de Mar in Tarragona today, in which a German man has died. The 33 year old German was shot in the thorax and abdomen and suffered a heart attack.Spanish police think the shooting which involved four people in total was a settling of scores related to drug trafficking. An Italian is seriously hurt after being shot in the neck. He made his own way to the local health centre from where he was taken by helicopter to the Joan XXIII hospital in Tarragona where he has had surgery.
The Briton was stabbed in the thorax and treated in a local ambulance. His involvement in the affair is still being investigated and as yet he has not been arrested.It happened at 4,30pm on Monday in a chalet in Calle Rovelló, in the Sant Jordi Alfama urbanisation in L’Ametlla.All four men involved in the shooting and stabbing were living locally and reports say some of them have a previous record for drug trafficking.

Santander Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros with Bernard Madoff

Europe’s second- biggest bank by market value, may drop after saying its hedge fund unit invested 2.33 billion euros ($3.1 billion) of client funds with Bernard Madoff, who allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme that cost investors $50 billion.
Santander’s Optimal Investment Services unit placed money with Madoff through its Optimal Strategic U.S. Equity fund, the Spanish lender said in a statement yesterday. France’s BNP Paribas SA may lose 350 million euros and Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. could have $330 million of losses as Madoff’s scheme reaches victims across the Atlantic Ocean. “People are going to take it badly in the market,” said Alberto Espelosin, who helps manage the equivalent of $7.7 billion at Zaragoza, Spain-based Ibercaja Gestion. “It’s not Santander’s own money, and they’re not to blame, but of course it will be taken as something negative.” Santander, based in the Spanish city of the same name, lost 53 percent of its market value this year. Madoff, 70, who had advised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on how to regulate markets, was arrested Dec. 11 and charged with operating what he described as “one big lie.”

arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of murder

Police are fearing a backlash of reprisals against the family, who were forced to abandon their home several days ago.
Nobody was injured last Saturday night when arsonists fire-bombed the home of the family of a Spanish man, Rafael Hidalgo Castro, who has been in jail since December 1st accused of the murder of a Gypsy man, 51-year-old José Reyes, on November 9th.
The victim's son is calling for calm and said that those responsible for the attack "are not doing us any favours in our struggle for justice for our father's murder. We are not looking for revenge. If we had, we would already have exacted it." The incident took place in Santiago, one of the poorest districts of Bujalance and home to both Spanish and Gypsy families. At the time of the murder, Castro had been on the run since February 2006, when he failed to return to jail after being granted an eight-hour pass to visit his sick mother, and since when police suspect him of committing around 25 other offences. Local mayor, Rafael Cañete, described the incident as "totally deplorable, adding that: "If we start down this violent path, nothing will get resolved. Rafi's family has not done anything and the Talion Law of an eye for an eye is not the solution."

Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week

Pedro Solbes has described the impact of the Madoff investment fraud as "of very little concern for the Spanish market." Speaking to the press following the 'Spain in the IMF and the World Bank: a 50-year relationship' conference in Madrid, Mr Solbes said that, at the moment, the only figures available indicate that the total amount lost by Spanish finance companies may be as little as €38 million euros although he informed that the Spanish stock market watchdog, the CNMV, is undertaking a "specific analysis." According to the Economy minister, the three Spanish insurance companies affected by the scam have lost €2 million euros while nine pension funds have been affected to the tune of €36mn, equivalent to only around 0.04% of their total investments. The total value of the fraud worldwide is estimated at around €37.4 billion ($50 billion US dollars), and has been described as "the biggest financial scandal, possibly in the history of the markets".
Mr Solbes concluded by saying that the Madoff case is further proof that the "systems of financial supervision and control are failing in some countries."
Notwithstanding, the Santander Group admitted yesterday that it has €2.3 billion euros invested in the firm managed by Bernard Madoff, who was arrested last week and charged with fraud while the BBVA bank estimates its losses at around €30 million.

Mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she won't be celebrating Christmas this year as she continues to wait for news

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she won't be celebrating Christmas this year as she continues to wait for news of her daughter's disappearance.Amy vanished on the evening of January 1 this year, when she left her friend's house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol in Spain's Costa Del Sol, to walk the 15-minute journey home. Mother Audrey Fitzpatrick said: "As well as not being able to do it myself, I don't want to ruin it for my family as well."
She said Amy's accent had changed since the family's move to Spain. "Since living here in Spain, Amy has developed a very strong English accent as all her friends are English. So people may make the mistake of thinking that she has an Irish accent, she doesn't."She was speaking to RTE's 'Crimecall' which travelled to Spain to talk to Ms Fitzpatrick and her partner, Dave Mahon, as they continue their search for Amy. More information is available at www.missingamy.com.'Crimecall' is broadcast tonight on RTE One at 10.15pm.

Man has been arrested after being stopped by a Guardia Civil traffic control in Fasnia for possession of cocaine

45-year-old man has been arrested after being stopped by a Guardia Civil traffic control in Fasnia for possession of cocaine intended for sale. His nervousness gave him away after being pulled over for a routine check, and officers searched his vehicle. They found a bag with 14 grams of cocaine and a weighing scales.

Spain's largest bank Santander said customers of its hedge fund Optimal have an exposure of €2.33 billion to the alleged fraud committed by Madoff.

Spain's largest bank Santander said customers of its hedge fund Optimal have an exposure of €2.33 billion to the alleged fraud committed Madoff. The bank, Europe's second largest by market capitalisation, also said it had invested €17 million of its own funds in Madoff products. “The exposure of Santander customers in Optimal Strategic is €2.33 billion, of which €2.01 billion is from institutional investors and customers from private international banking,” it said in a statement. Madoff was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding his customers through a giant pyramid scheme, with prosecutors alleging that the 70-year-old, a decades-long veteran of Wall Street, confessed to losing at least $US50 billion ($75 billion) in the so-called Ponzi scheme. Madoff's company, Bernard L. Mr Madoff Investment Securities, attracted “the world's financial aristocracy,” said the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Among his clients were international banks as well as discreet private banks and companies involved in managing the fortunes of a single wealthy family. French bank BNP Paribas said it could lose up to €350 million in the scandal. BNP Paribas said that it had no direct investment with Madoff's company but “it does have risk exposure to these funds through its trading business and collateralised lending to funds of hedge funds”. “If, as a result of the alleged fraud, the value of the assets of these hedge funds is nil, BNP Paribas' loss could amount to around €350 million,” the bank said. Swiss bankers face losses of up to $US5 billion, Geneva's Le Temps newspaper said. It said that Union Bancaire Privee, a major asset management institution specialising in hedge funds, could be exposed to the tune of $US1 billion. UBP refused to comment on the report, which said that 90 per cent of fund management companies operating in Geneva invested in Madoff products.Among the small Swiss private banks,Reichmuth & Co warned investors that around Swiss francs 385 million ($493 million), or 3.5 per cent, of its assets under management, were affected by exposure to the alleged pyramid scheme run by Madoff.
In a letter to investors, the Luzern-based private bank said that its Matterhorn fund of hedge funds has exposure to several hedge funds which could be affected by the scheme. "Provided the mentioned hedge funds will have to face a total loss, the performance impact on Reichmuth Matterhorn would amount to 8.6 per cent," the bank said in the letter. Another Spanish fund manager, MandB Capital Advisor, headed by the son of Santander president Emilio Botin, could also be exposed up to hundreds of millions of US dollars. In the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, Spanish investors had exposure of between €1.3 and €2.6 billion. In London, an investment fund that counted itself a client of Mr Madoff criticised the “systemic failure” of regulators in the United States. Bramdean Alternatives said the accusations against Madoff raised “fundamental questions” about the American financial regulatory system. “It is astonishing that this apparent fraud seems to have been continuing for so long, possibly for decades, while investors have continued to invest more money into the Madoff funds in good faith,” the firm said in a statement. Bramdean Alternatives invested around £21 million ($47 million), or around 9.5 per cent of its portfolio, with Madoff's company. Several British newspapers reported that among Bramdean's clients is property magnate Vincent Tchenguiz, one of Britain's richest men, who apparently invested £40 million pounds with the firm. A spokeswoman for Royal Bank of Scotland said that the bank had “some exposure” to Madoff's company, but declined to give details. Europe's largest bank, HSBC, meanwhile, declined to confirm any relationship with the alleged fraudster. Rumours talk of £400 millions lost.

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante for dealing and spending counterfeit Euros.The gang are alleged to have purchased the fake cash from the Calabresa Mafia at a price between 30% and 40% of the face value of the notes. They then spent the money in local markets and small shops across the region.The Guardia Civil say they have arrested a total of 20 people in relation to the case, in Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería and Lugo, and that the notes were also distributed in Portugal and the North of Africa. 150,000 € worth of 20 and 50€ notes were recovered by the Guardia Civil, in an investigation which started at the end of last year.It’s thought the gang has distributed as much as a million fake Euros since being established.

Spanish investors could have up to 3 billion euros ($3.98 billion) of exposure to funds managed by Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff,

Spanish investors could have up to 3 billion euros ($3.98 billion) of exposure to funds managed by Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff, accused of masterminding a fraud of up to $50 billion, Expansion said on Saturday. 'The first estimates suggest both groups (large fortunes and Spanish funds) could have invested more than 3 billion euros in vehicles managed by Madoff,' the financial daily said without naming its sources. Investors in hedge fund Optimal, run by Spain's largest bank Santander, Santander's private banking subsidiary Banif, M&B Advisers Gestion (M&B Capital Advisers) and Spain's second largest bank BBVA were among those affected, the same sources told the paper. A spokesman for BBVA said BBVA customers in Spain were not exposed to the fraud. 'BBVA has not commercialised in its network of retail clients or private banking in Spain products managed or deposited in Madoff Investment Securities,' he said. A spokesman for Santander declined to comment on whether it had exposure. Santander's Optimal has commercialised more than $3 billion dollars of Madoff funds, the newspaper ABC said, citing data from Bloomberg. Two funds of M&B Capital Advisers have $578 million invested in a Madoff hedge fund, ABC said, citing Bloomberg data. No one was available to comment at M&B Capital Advisers.

Daniel Paul Johnston and Keith Burke have been arrested

28 year old Daniel Paul Johnston and 47 year old Keith Burke have been arrested in what is more success for the crimestoppers campaign.Both men were on the top 30 most wanted list, with Johnston found in the Sevilla village of Pruna following a tip-off. He is reported to have been living there as a handyman. He’s wanted for armed raids in Derbyshire in 2004 and 2005 and is expected to return to England for questioning.Keith Burke, known as ‘Tattooed Keith’ because of a devil and swallow tattoos on his neck, is wanted in connection with an attack on a bar near Doncaster in 2001.

Alan Dickson, 37, from Falkland in Fife, masterminded an operation to smuggle over one million pounds worth of cannabis into Scotland from Spain.

Alan Dickson, 37, from Falkland in Fife, masterminded an operation to smuggle over one million pounds worth of cannabis into Scotland from Spain. In 2002 he was caught and jailed for ten years. However, he allegedly fled Castle Huntly jail four years later. This month he was returned to Scotland after being discovered in the Costa Del Sol. He appeared on petition from custody at Perth Sheriff Court accused of walking out of the jail on 28 December 2006 and spending two years on the run.
He is also accused of defeating the ends of justice by absconding from the jail while serving a ten-year sentence imposed at the High Court in Edinburgh on 5 March 2002. Dickson made a brief appearance in private and made no plea or declaration in relation to the absconding charge. He was fully committed for trial and remanded in custody after making no application for bail. In 2002, the High Court in Edinburgh heard how Dickson was the head of a gang smuggling cannabis to Scotland from his home in holiday resort Torremelinos. Dickson, who was also jailed for five years for drug trafficking in 1997, dispatched couriers with suitcases packed with cannabis resin from his apartment.

Icod de los Vinos Guardia Civil have arrested a 22-year-old woman for possession of 29 bags of cocaine

Icod de los Vinos Guardia Civil have arrested a 22-year-old woman for possession of 29 bags of cocaine amounting to 15 grams which she is presumed to have intended to sell. The woman was caught on the TF5 by a checkpoint, and the cocaine was seized along with 160€ which is thought likely to be the proceeds of previous sales.

Drug trafficking gang operating in the Canary Islands have been arrested in a series of raids in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

Drug trafficking gang operating in the Canary Islands have been arrested in a series of raids in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. According to a Guardia Civil statement released yesterday, the gang had laundered part of the proceeds by investing in local business such as restaurants and bars, and buying property, while the rest was diverted to bank accounts in Morocco and Melilla. A total of 800kg of cannabis has been confiscated, 300kg of which was discovered in a lorry on board a ferry travelling from Fuertventura to Las Palmas while the remaining 500kg was found during a search of a chalet on the outskirts of Pájara in southern Fuertventura.
It seems that the drugs were smuggled from north Africa using high-powered motor launches, four of which have been confiscated. Sixteen bank accounts have been blocked and embargoes have been imposed on several chalets, apartments, and garages, as well as two restaurants and a bar, in Puerto del Rosario, Cotillo and Antigua.

Plot to import millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK was foiled when Spanish police became suspicious of a consignment of five pallets

Plot to import millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK was foiled when Spanish police became suspicious of a consignment of five pallets awaiting shipment to Cumbria, a court heard. Police in Seville opened the boxes and found more than four tonnes of cannabis which would have been worth £12 million if it had reached the streets of Britain.They replaced the drugs with sand and bricks and sent the load on its way.Then, a jury at Carlisle Crown Court was told, they alerted their counterparts in Cumbria, so they were waiting when the consignment arrived at a cash and carry warehouse in Windermere.The alleged ringleaders were arrested on the spot and charged with various drug-dealing and money-laundering crimes.Further investigations showed that cannabis worth a total of £35m could have been sent in four previous consignments.The prosecution says a gang of local people, led by George Tymoszycki of Storrs Park, Bowness-on-Windermere, were involved in importing the cannabis.Tymoszycki died in June.Those on trial are his ex-wife Sharon Ambrose, 48, of Storrs Park, Bowness-on-Windermere; John James Nightingale, 65, of Lane End West, Windermere who runs Lakes Car Hire in Windermere and Duncan William Maxwell, 43, of Lake Road, Windermere. Nightingale has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply cannabis and to money laundering, while Ambrose and Maxwell have both denied money laundering.The court was told that Nightingale supervised the deliveries while Nightingale, Maxwell and Ambrose then put the money through their bank accounts in an attempt to hide its origin.The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Guardia Civil arrested a 50-year-old German yesterday for trying to bring 1,090 grams of cocaine into Tenerife through the airport.

Guardia Civil arrested a 50-year-old German yesterday for trying to bring 1,090 grams of cocaine into Tenerife through the airport. The arrest was made in the arrivals hall when Guardia Civil officers approached the man and asked the reason for his visit to Tenerife. Apparently, he was unable to give a convincing reason, and although a search of his suitcase revealed nothing, he was taken to a hospital centre in Santa Cruz for X-rays where it was established that he was carrying the drugs inside his body. The packets were expelled under medical control, and turned out to be 88 capsules of cocaine amounting to 1,090 gramos.

Police in Spain have arrested two people on suspicion of having swindled a total of 65 million euros from foreigners.

Police in Spain have arrested two people on suspicion of having swindled a total of 65 million euros from foreigners. Around 200 people, most of them Britons, had invested money in non-existent schemes along Spain's Costa del Sol.Twenty people are suspected of money laundering, falsifying documents and fraud after they approached foreign investors through Internet, telephone calls and real estate fairs.

Daniel Paul Johnston wanted for four robberies in Derbyshire now thought to be living in Spain

FUGITIVE wanted for four robberies in Derbyshire now thought to be living in Spain is still being hunted by crime-fighters.
Police issued a photograph of Daniel Paul Johnston, 27, in January, along with an appeal for information from the public.
But Johnston, who is originally from Matlock and is wanted for four robberies at off-licences in Derbyshire, remains on the run and is still believed to be in the Costa Del Sol.As part of Operation Captura – a scheme launched by the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Crimestoppers and the Spanish authorities – Johnston was named on a list of 20 fugitives police wanted to trace.
An agency spokesman said: "We are still making efforts to trace this man and continue to work with colleagues to do so. There are indications that he went to Spain and we believe he is still living there.
"While we cannot talk about the specifics of investigations, we can say that work with the relevant authorities in Spain is on-going."
Johnston is thought to have committed two robberies in September, 2004, and one in January, 2005, at Bargain Booze, in Limetree Avenue, Midway.
Another, in October 2004, took place at Wellwood Road Stores, in Newhall.
A knife was brandished and cash stolen.
Operation Captura identifies people wanted by British police for crimes committed in the UK. To date, 14 fugitives have been brought to justice following 20 such appeals on the Crimestoppers' Most Wanted website.
The appeals ask members of the public, either in Spain or the UK, to contact the authorities to help trace suspected criminals.
SOCA co-ordinates the appeals and then processes a European arrest warrant, which is used to bring fugitives back to the UK.
The introduction of European arrest warrants came about in 2003 as part of the Extradition Act and is used to speed up the transfer of suspects from one country to another.The spokesman added: "We have had great success from the operation so far and we will do all we can to bring people to justice."
The Costa del Sol, in Andalucia, was given the nickname "Costa del Crime" over 20 years ago because of the number of suspected UK criminals thought to be living there.

Sotogrande 600 kilos of hashish hidden in petrol cans

National Police has been involved 600 kilograms of hashish hidden in cans of petrol in a pleasure boat moored Dutch flag in the marina of Sotogrande, Cadiz who had as the final destination Palma. Three people have been arrested as alleged perpetrators of a crime against public health. Praise arrested have been identified as RB, aged 61, born in Harlen (Netherlands); RGF, a native of Madrid, 25, and DABG, 19, born in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) The investigation focused on an organized group of Dutch and Spanish settled on the Costa del Sol, Morocco and Holland, who were dedicated to the introduction of large quantities of hashish by pleasure craft from the Moroccan coast to Spain. Investigators found out that the group had intended to transport a large quantity of the drug until a marina on the island of Mallorca, but due to technical problems, they decided to divert its route to Sotogrande. Responsible for transporting the drug from Tangiers, aboard the yacht 'Sea Pilot' with a Dutch flag and 11 meters in length, were arrested RB and R.G.F. Departed from the port of Cadiz in the early months and 18 days the researchers found the boat and its occupants on his return to Spain, which established a monitoring device. Days later showed how one of the crew, of Dutch nationality, got inside the boat three containers of 25 liters of gasoline each and introduced into a vehicle. The next day, accompanied by another of the crew, of Dominican nationality, returned back to the boat and took it another five containers of fuel. At that time both were arrested because the gasoline containers were filled with hashish pills. In the records of the other boat were recovered Hashish twenty-six drums that contained, with a gross weight of approximately 600 kilograms.
Registration of the home of R.B. were found three revolvers and two carbines, abundant ammunition for the 22 and 9 mm, a ski mask and two tablets of hashish.

40 year old man who was seriously injured when attacked with a baseball bat

40 year old man who was seriously injured when attacked with a baseball bat while taking a walk on the El Postuguet beach in the city, has died in the Alicante General Hospital.The emergency services were called to the scene of the aggression at 7,15am on Wednesday morning.

Costa del Sol real estate scam 200 Brits affected

Several searches of real estate companies were carried out in Fuengirola and Mijas yesterday in connection with an alleged fraud which is thought to have affected hundreds of British citizens.The scam consisted in offering investment in what turned out to be false construction projects on the Costa del Sol, according to La Opinión de Málaga this morning.One Briton affected by this made a complaint to the British courts and they have sent a commission to the Costa to investigate. The British judiciary gave the information to the National Court in Spain, which in turn passed it on to the courts in Fuengirola.The swoops yesterday, in both homes and businesses, were carried out by the Central Operations Unit of the Guardia Civil, and it’s thought that several people will now face charges.Meanwhile in what is described as a parallel operation, the Anti-corruption Prosecutor ordered searches of two ‘little known’ lawyers in Mijas. The investigation is into allegations of money laundering, not thought to be linked to the real estate scam.
The scam consisted of offering investments in real estate projects on the Costa via companies in financial havens, with the value of the supposed projects, many of them rural, multiplied in some cases tenfold. Many of the contacts were made over the Internet. The total amount defrauded as none of the projects came to fruition is some 65 million €. The case is being instructed in court two in Fuengirola and started to be investigated by the authorities two years ago.The Spanish anti-corruption prosecutor has been working closely with the British authorities on the case, and sent several officers to the U.K. to interview nine victims there.Two people were arrested by the Guardia Civil on Tuesday as searches were carried out in businesses and homes in Fuengirola and Mijas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The judge has called 20 people of different nationalities to give evidence in the case as investigations continue.

Arrested for trying to con his parents out of €30,000

young man from Murcia has been arrested for trying to con his parents out of €30,000 euros in ransom money by pretending to have been kidnapped. It seems that the man was detained after police traced a call he had made to his parents to inform them of the time and place they were to leave the money, and to let them know that the kidnappers had instructed him to collect it personally. When questioned, he admitted that he had wanted the cash to move out of the family home and to another city.

British 'martial arts experts' are being questioned by police after a foiled kidnap and extortion attempt on an expatriate in Tarifa.

British 'martial arts experts' are being questioned by police after a foiled kidnap and extortion attempt on an expatriate in southern Spain.Shoppers in the resort of Tarifa rescued the British victim as he was being bundled into a jeep by four men outside a supermarket. The suspects were arrested at a roadblock last Thursday on their way to the Strait of Gibraltar.Spanish detectives believe the group, who they describe as 'martial arts experts who belong to a criminal organisation', travelled from the UK on the orders of a criminal paymaster who had been attempting to force the victim to transfer £100,000 into British bank accounts. Spanish police said the victim was 'a law-abiding man' without criminal links, but would not say why he was targeted or release his name. A spokesman for Spain's Civil Guard said: 'The victim had been the object of a campaign of extortion. When he refused, the person demanding the money hired four British men to obtain the cash by kidnapping him.' Investigators said they believed the gang planned to fly back to Britain on Friday after carrying out the kidnap. Details of the four men, aged between 40 and 55, have been passed to British detectives.

Five bodies have been found inside suitcases in the province of Malaga.

The latest suitcaase murder containing a human skeleton has been found in a dry river bed next to the MA-387 road in Mijas. Pathologists at the Institute of Legal Medicine are analysing the skeleton in an attempt to identify it. Whilst a preliminary examination suggests it is that of a large, middle-aged man who died about one year ago, existing environmental conditions may have delayed or accelerated the putrefaction of the body. Investigators have found what appears to be a bullet hole in the back of the skull and are investigating all disappearances reported up to one year ago. In recent years, no fewer than five bodies have been found inside suitcases in the province of Malaga.

Depot manager at Movers International, became suspicious about a request to ship furniture from Alicante to Preston

Depot manager at Movers International, based at Red Scar Industrial Estate, became suspicious about a request to ship furniture from Alicante to Preston.
And when Spanish police checked the furniture they discovered £250,000 worth of cannabis destined for the streets of Liverpool.
This week Peter Thomas, 47, of Upper Brassey Street, Birkenhead, who had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to supply 122 kilograms of the Class C drug, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Preston Crown Court.
Thomas' conviction follows a joint operation between Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit and the Guardia Civil Police, based in the Alicante area of Spain, which began in June 2006 and was sparked by the depot manager's suspicions.Codenamed Operation Hazel, it targeted the importation of cannabis from Spain into the UK.Preston Crown Court prosecutor Robert Platts said in July 2006 the cannabis resin was seized by the Spanish authorities in Alicante after the manager at Movers International became "highly suspicious'' of a request to ship furniture from Spain to Preston.The cannabis would have been delivered with the furniture to Preston and was then to be delivered to an address in the Liverpool area.As a result of the investigation Thomas was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis.A spokesperson for the Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: "This is another excellent example of Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit disrupting the importation of controlled drugs into the UK .
"We have developed partnerships with colleagues from enforcement agencies on the European mainland and this investigation illustrates how, by working together with the Spanish police, we were able to prevent the supply of the cannabis and disrupt a well developed network."We will continue to work with colleagues across Europe to protect the communities of Lancashire and the United Kingdom from drugs and other highly profitable organised crime."

Paul Charleston, 45, of Leigh, was taken into custody by Majorcan police, along with another Briton – Donna Marie Messe,

Paul Charleston, 45, of Leigh, was taken into custody by Majorcan police, along with another Briton – Donna Marie Messe, 38, of Seisdon, Staffordshire – a Spaniard and a Canadian.Detectives from the National Police Economic Crime unit carried out the swoop, codenamed Operation Sofia.The four were taken into custody after detectives raided the premises of Onix Office Management in Palma. Police also raided a property in Santa Ponsa on the south-west coast.All four were accused of selling property shares through Onix at six times their real value to 30 victims, mostly British.Mr Charleston was being held in Majorca after appearing before an investigating judge at a closed door hearing. Meese was allowed bail.

Andrew Alderman,one of the10 most-wanted British criminal suspects hiding in southern Spain handed himself in

Andrew Alderman, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for indecent assault and the rape of a girl under 16, handed himself over to Britain's Consulate General.He is the fourth person on the "most-wanted" list to be tracked down since it was launched two weeks ago."This is excellent news," said Denise Holt, Ambassador to Spain. "This is another good example of the close cooperation between our two countries."Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) started Operation Captura on November 6, publicising details of suspects they believed were on the run in the Alicante region.Within 24 hours of its launch, two of those on the list, Anthony Kearney and Donna McCafferty, who are both accused of fraud, had been apprehended.A third suspect, Alan Gordon who was wanted for drug offences, was found in prison in Majorca for separate offences he committed in Spain.
Mick Laurie, Crimestoppers' chief executive, said Alderman had been forced to hand himself because of the publicity the scheme had attracted.
"This is yet another great success for Operation Captura. Due to Alderman's face being so widely circulated, the pressure became all too much and he decided to give himself up," Laurie saidAndrew Alderman, 49, from Maidstone, fled this country before he could be sentenced in August 2006 after being convicted of the rape and indecent assault of a 14-year-old girl.He was placed on a list of top ten Most Wanted criminals on the run in Spain earlier this month in a joint operation launched by Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency and an appeal was made to the British ex-pat community on the Costa Blanca to shop him.
As a result of the pressure put on Alderman he handed himself in to the British consul in Madrid at 10am this morning (Tuesday).He will go in front of a Spanish court in the next two weeks before he is sent back to Kent to be re-sentenced.
A judge at Maidstone Crown Court gave him a ten-year prison sentence in his absence, but he is now facing longer behind bars for trying to cheat justice. It is believed he moved between France and Spain to escape capture.His victim’s mother this afternoon said she was struggling to accept that Alderman was in custody after being told by phone 30 minutes after he gave himself up.She said: “I just couldn’t believe it, I keep taking deep breaths and pinching myself to make sure it is all really happening and that I did actually get that call.“I called my daughter straight away to tell her, she just laughed and cried, and kept laughing and crying, it really hasn’t sunk in yet.“It is amazing news, we are going on holiday next week to Tenerife together for the first time since my daughter told me everything, that will be a brilliant way to celebrate.”She added: “When he is back on British soil – I want to see him sent down. I hate him, I will never feel anything but hate for him.”
Detective Inspector David Berry, who worked on the rape case as part of Kent police’s child protection team, said: “This is a major thing and shows other criminals that our police system does work, and that the world is not a small place anymore, it’s harder to hide from justice.
“Being on the Most Wanted list is a huge pressure on someone, and I think he decided he couldn’t hide from it anymore

British man laundering some 200,000 € from the sale of heroin daily

38 people have been arrested across Spain of a gang of drug runners who were allegedly distributing heroin from Turkey though a centre in La Cañada Real in Madrid.The arrests were carried out in Oviedo, Gijón, La Felguera in Asturias, Unquera in Cantabria, Arganda del Rey in Madrid, Sevilla and Fuengirola in Andalucía and El Ferrol in Galicia in an operation which was opened in April.13.5 kilos of heroin, 1.8 kilos of cocaine, more than 14 kilos of material to cut the drugs, money, jewellery and other items have all been recovered. Police say the group was laundering some 200,000 € from the sale of the drug daily using a British man to do so. The others arrested are Spanish, Turkish, Pakistani, Bulgarian and Greek.

Sixteen year old youth stabbed

sixteen year old youth was stabbed in the early hours of Saturday morning in a street fight on the promenade in Fuengirola. The emergency services received a call at 1.45 a.m. this morning informing them that a young man was lying on the ground with a knife wound which was apparently inflicted during a fight. He was taken to the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella for treatment.

Sixteen year old youth was stabbed

sixteen year old youth was stabbed in the early hours of Saturday morning in a street fight on the promenade in Fuengirola. The emergency services received a call at 1.45 a.m. this morning informing them that a young man was lying on the ground with a knife wound which was apparently inflicted during a fight. He was taken to the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella for treatment.

Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both of Glasgow, and Stephen Brown, 42, Brian Rawlings, 63, and Debra Learmouth, 45 were arrested

Six people arrested in raids on a suspected drug smuggling gang based in Spain.
Police seized 70kg of speed, thought to be destined for sale in Scotland, after stopping a lorry near Oxford. A Spanish police spokeswoman said the arrests - five in Marbella, southern Spain, and Santa Cruz, Tenerife - followed an intelligence operation which lasted months. Cops seized around £84,000 in euros and £6000 in Scottish banknotes in the Spanish raids. They also confiscated two Ferraris, a Hummer, a Porsche, an Audi Q7 4x4, a BMW, three quad bikes, four jet skis and a 30ft boat. Ronald O'Dea, 42, and James McDonald, 39, both of Glasgow, and Stephen Brown, 42, Brian Rawlings, 63, and Debra Learmouth, 45, all from London, were arrested in the raids in Marbella and Santa Cruz. Trucker Gerard Mooney, of Dublin, was arrested in Oxford.

Fuengirola attempted security van robbery

National Police have arrested six people, four men and two women, from a gang of jewellery thieves who had been acting in Málaga province. The arrests came just as the gang were about to assault a security van in Fuengirola.A police statement that the arrested men were five Argentineans and a Paraguayan and that following two searches a large amount of jewellery had been recovered. The leader of the group has been named with the initials J.F.G. and is known as Joe.The gang has been linked to two violent robberies in Málaga and Torremolinos, but they could later be linked to other incidents. Police investigations were started last September, and it’s thought the gang could also have acted elsewhere in the country. They were professional thieves who planned their operations to the letter.

Jose Ignacio International arrest warrant has been issued for a terrorist from the Basque separatist group ETA who is believed to be in Ireland.

International arrest warrant has been issued for a terrorist from the Basque separatist group ETA who is believed to be in Ireland. The warrant was put out by a Spanish judge today after Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos failed to appear at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. De Juana was released from prison this summer after serving 21 years for the murder of 25 people in the 1980s. He was due to answer questions from the Spanish judge over an alleged case of exalting terrorism - which is a criminal offence in Spain.

Christopher Wiggins, of Apartment Six, Block 10, Mirador de Costalita, Cancelada, Estepona, Malaga

Christopher Wiggins (42)Philip Doo (52), and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night amid tight security. A force of up to 30 gardaí, including detectives armed with Uzi submachine guns, surrounded the courthouse.The three men, all from Britain, were charged that on November 5th, 2008, on the vessel Dances with Waves , a ship not registered in any country or territory, they had possession of cocaine knowing it was intended to be imported illegally.The offence, which is contrary to Section 34 (2) (4) of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act 1994, carries a maximum penalty upon conviction at Circuit Court level of a a fine or seven years in jail or both.
Det Garda Ronan Cowley of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Doo, of Rocklands House, Higher Manor Road, Brixham, Devon, and told the court that Mr Doo did not wish to reply to the charge after caution.Det Garda David Kennedy of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Wiggins, of Apartment Six, Block 10, Mirador de Costalita, Cancelada, Estepona, Malaga.He said Mr Wiggins made no reply to the charge.

Guardia Civil have broken up a car-theft gang suspected of 17 forced robberies in the La Orotava area

The Guardia Civil have broken up a car-theft gang suspected of 17 forced robberies in the La Orotava area. The four arrested, males of 46, 23, 22 and 21, are charged with break-ins to cars and building sites, as well as other burglaries, especially in La Perdoma. Two were caught in the act of a burglary of building materials from a construction site. The arrests follow months of surveillance.

Mark Stephens guilty of conspiring to import 7,100 ecstasy pills and 3 kilogrammes of cocaine

Briton was on Wednesday jailed for 25 years and fined €60,000 after a panel of jurors found him guilty of conspiring to import 7,100 ecstasy pills and 3 kilogrammes of cocaine in 2003. After just over 4 hours deliberating, the jurors returned a guilty verdict of 7 votes to 2, announcing Mark Stephens guilty of conspiring to import 7,100 ecstasy pills and 3 kilogrammes of cocaine in 2003.
Defence counsel Joe Brincat asked the judge to take into consideration the fact that the verdict was not a unanimous one and that Mr Stephens had spent about a year in preventive custody in Spain. Gregory Eyre, a key witness in the trial, was arrested on court orders and investigated on perjury charges after saying one thing during the compilation of evidence and another during the jury trial. Last Monday, he said that Mark Stephens was not his supplier but named another person, Andrew Woodhouse.

Shot two Moroccans in Calle Carretería in Málaga

Police in Málaga have arrested another person in connection with the shooting of two Moroccans in Calle Carretería in Málaga on Tuesday night. Both the victims also face charges. One of the two victims remains in a serious condition in hospital after being shot , while the other has been allowed home. The third arrest is also Moroccan with all three of the men being aged between 26 and 42. Police investigations in the case are ongoing.

Captain was killed in a fight with one of the crew

crew of a Guardia Civil coastal patrol boat has boarded an Italian merchant vessel - the 'Paxi C', sailing from Alexandria (Egypt) to Gijón anchored off Fisterra since its captain was killed in a fight with one of the crew. They were sent to take charge of the investigation after an SOS message sent at 6.20am by the ship's first officer, who was ordered to drop anchor and prepare to be boarded after explaining what had happened.

Ferry from Tangiers seven Portuguese have been arrested

Seven Portuguese have been arrested in Tarifa port after they were found to be carrying a total of 4.2 kilos of hashish hidden in their internally.A statement from the Civil Guard said the group were given a scan when they arrived on a ferry from Tangiers yesterday. 600 small pellets of the drug were found in the travellers aged between 18 and 47.

Gary Dunne,body is being kept under local hygiene laws.

Gary Dunne, 22, was killed by a machete-wielding thug on Spain's Costa del Sol in March 2006. His body is being kept under local hygiene laws. A heartbroken family have won the support of Sports Secretary Andy Burnham in their battle to bring home the body of their murdered son. But Mr Burnham, who has met Gary's parents Stephen and Lesley, told officials in Spain last month: "The return of Gary's body is crucially important to his family." Killer Victor Posse Navas was recently jailed for just nine years after a court heard he was under the influence of drugs.
But Gary's dad Stephen, of Liverpool, said: "Gary is not going to walk in, in nine years and say, 'Hi Dad, fancy a pint?'. Yet his killer will be free by then."
The parents presented a 50,000-strong petition to Downing Street in July.

Double murder and attempted suicide

Two women have been stabbed to death in Abarán, Murcia. Next to the bodies the police found a seriously injured man who was also suffering from stab wounds to his neck. It appears that the man had tried to commit suicide after presumably killing the women.The Guardia Civil say that the 74 year old Spaniard had a sentimental relationship with one of the women, a 40 year old from Honduras, who spent her time looking after the other, a 75 year old Spanish woman.The alleged aggressor is now in a critical condition in hospital in nearby Cieza. There were no previous reports of domestic violence against him. Local Mayor, Antonio Gómez, said the village was considerably upset by what had happened.

Robber has died in a shoot out with police in Seville.

Robber has died in a shoot out with police in Seville. It happened at a supermarket in the Nervión area of the city at 8,30pm on Friday night, and a 54 year old off duty police commissioner was also injured in the groin. Witnesses say the two robbers arrived on a moped which they left with the engine running outside the store. The commissioner was shopping inside with his wife and daughter, and realising that a robbery was underway, tried to intervene. He announced his presence only to see the robbers take out and use their weapons.In the following shoot out, one robber was shot twice and has died, while the other made his escape.

Not guilty.two Romanians and a Moroccan, accused of torturing and killing a German couple in their home in Chilches, Málaga,

Provincial Court in Málaga has found the three men, two Romanians and a Moroccan, accused of torturing and killing a German couple in their home in Chilches, Málaga, not guilty.Inconsistencies in witness statements and the lack of DNA evidence were deciding factors in the verdict.The attack which also saw the theft of 60,000 € and jewellery took place on January 22 2007, and the three accused have been held in prison since then. The group was however found guilty of the theft of a Volkwagan Polo in Granada, and sentenced to 23 months in prison on that charge. Conflicting witness statements as to the presence of that car at the scene of the crime was key to the verdict.

Brit shootout on Sant Jordi Alfama residential estate in L'Ametlla de Mar

Cataluña regional police believe that some kind of drug-related feud may be behind a shootout on a residential estate in L'Ametlla de Mar (Tarragona) yesterday that left one man dead and two others injured. The incident occurred at a chalet on the calle Rovelló on the Sant Jordi Alfama residential estate at around 4.30pm. One of the protagonists - a 33-year-old German man - was hit four times in the chest and abdomen, and was found already dead in the middle of the street. An Italian man, who was shot in the neck, was airlifted to the Joan XXIII Hospital in Tarragona, where he is recovering after surgery. A British man, who was stabbed in the chest, was arrested after receiving treatment at the local health centre. A second British national, who escaped injury, is helping police with their inquiries.

David and Susan Mills it was like a scene from a horror movie, there was so much blood, then we spotted a body slumped on the stairs next to the lift.

David and Susan Mills were halfway through a week in Majorca and getting ready for a night out when they heard a raised voices from the corridor of their apartment complex, followed by a scream and a thud.Thinking it was drunken youths, the South Shields couple continued getting ready, and it was only when they stepped into the corridor 20 minutes later that they saw blood splattered across the walls and a man lying face down on the stairway."We couldn't believe it," said Mrs Mills. "It was like a scene from a horror movie, there was so much blood, then we spotted a body slumped on the stairs next to the lift."The couple, from Gainsborough Avenue, Whiteleas, South Shields, had been staying at the Los Palomos complex in Palma Nova, when their holiday nightmare began on Saturday, October 4.
Mrs Mills, 46, said: "I was putting my make up on and David was brushing his teeth. We could hear a commotion outside, but it was all foreign and we couldn't understand what they were saying."Then we heard a man scream and a thud, we were going to go outside but we though it was probably just drunken kids messing about, so carried on getting ready."The couple, who booked their trip through Going On Holiday Ltd, then left their apartment on the second floor and made their way to the lifts."The corridor outside our apartment was very dark, so you had to switch lights on as you went along it," said Mr Mills, 51, a taxi driver. "But when we put the first light one, we saw blood everywhere up the walls. We carried on walking and found the man lying there."The couple then heard shouts from the floor above saying "no touch, no touch". After a brief conversation with the person who called out to them, Mr Mills established that the emergency services had been called, and at that point pushed his wife into the lift.

Amanda Goodwin was arrested after 500 kilos of the drug was found stuffed in compressed blocks in a van at Benijofar, south of Alicante

Amanda Goodwin, 48, from Brighton, was arrested after 500 kilos of the drug was found stuffed in compressed blocks in a van at Benijofar, south of Alicante. Armed officers swooped after discovering the haul, which has a street value of £1.5million. Spanish police suspect it came from northern Africa and was destined for the UK via road with two cars driving ahead to look out for police. David Mead, 45, of Beckenham, south-east London, Michael Wilks, 34, of Barking, east London, Martin James Veryard, 39, and a Romanian man were also arrested in Benijofar and El Garruchal in Murcia. All five are awaiting trial in Spain on crimes against the public health. After obtaining a court order, police searched a property in El Garruchal and arrested two people inside. A stolen luxury car and a Russian gun were found at the property. Two further cars and a motorbike were also seized as part of the operation which followed months of surveillance by Spanish serious organised crime officers. Spanish police said the operation, codenamed Rostel, started after drug traffickers were caught trying to ship drugs from the Levante coast in the south of Spain to the UK. Southern Spain is a common route for cannabis and other drugs coming into the UK from north Africa.

Irish gangster based in Spain is believed to have ordered two pipebomb threats carried out yesterday.

Irish gangster based in Spain is believed to have ordered two pipebomb threats carried out yesterday. Detectives were last night working on the theory that the pipebombs, which were viable and packed with homemade explosive, were sent as a warning to a man who was allegedly in debt to the gangster.The man does not live at either of the west-Dublin addresses targeted by the attacker.The gangster is originally from the north inner city and is connected to a former-gangland figure, who was the subject of a major investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Gardai believe he has been in control of an Irish-linked drugs distribution network in Spain since earlier this year.One of the devices was found at a house in Ronanstown yesterday morning and the other at an address in Ballyfermot shortly afterwards.Both of the pipebombs had been left under parked cars. Army bomb-disposal teams made each device safe and broke them down into component parts before taking them away for forensic examination.The tests confirmed that the devices were viable and contained quantities of homemade explosive. There were similar-ities in the construction of the pipebombs.Last night, the remains were handed over by the army to the gardai.Earlier, an old training grenade was found during a planned garda search at Grove Lane in Coolock. It was examined by an army ordinance team, who established that it had no explosive content.On its way back to barracks from the Ballyfermot incident, the army team was diverted to a fourth call-out at Oliver Bond flats, off Thomas Street.The device, which had been found by Dublin city council workers in a vent in a flat during routine maintenance work, was a hoax.
All of the scenes were cordoned off during the army examinations and several houses were evacuated during two of them.Meanwhile, three shots were fired at a convicted heroin dealer as he drove his car through Finglas yesterday afternoon.Last night, local gardai were trying to find a motive for the attack. The intended target was not injured.Gardai believe the target is a former associate of murdered gangland boss Martin "Marlo" Hyland.

Six members of Kosovo gang have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Torrevieja.

Six members of Kosovo gang have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Torrevieja.
A statement from the Civil Guard barracks in Alicante said that those arrested were thought to be part of a gang which had taken part in as many as 31 burglaries from factories in the Alicante and Murcia areas, causing ‘grand social alarm’. More than 86,000 € in cash as well as other items is believed to have been taken by the gang.
Investigations into the case started last December and it is believed that as many as eight people make up the entire gang. A series of searches were carried out with the arrests, leading to the impounding of mobile phone and radio telephone equipment, as well as other items and tools. Those arrested will appear in court shortly.

Alicante port thousand brand new mobile phones, which police believe may have been stolen, were found in the back of a van with fake British plates.

45-year-old man was arrested at Alicante port yesterday after around a thousand brand new mobile phones, which police believe may have been stolen, were found in the back of a van with fake British plates. Apart from the phones, dozens of replica display phones, external memory sticks, computer games as well as digital sound and image devices were found, leading police to conclude that they may have been stolen from at least one computer or mobile phone shop. The man, whose nationality has not been confirmed, was detained as he was about to board a ferry to Oran in Algeria.
The Spanish National Police have requested assistance from their counterparts in France and the UK to identify the van and to ascertain if there have been any reported robberies recently involving digital equipment suppliers.

Madrid police have arrested five members of a criminal gang

Madrid police have arrested five members of a criminal gang specialised in robbing drug traffickers by disguising themselves as police officers. The arrests were made as the gang was about to confiscate 264kg of high grade cocaine being stored in a warehouse in Alcalá de Henares by four Colombians, who were also detained.
During the investigation it came to light that the gang, which was led by an Italian, had been keeping tabs on their intended targets for some time using an array of high-tech surveillance equipment installed in a specially-adapted commercial van, which was confiscated. Four handguns, silencers, fake police badges, police vests, handcuffs, €14,000 euros in cash, four cars and a motorcycle were later seized in three police raids at addresses in Madrid city centre, Majadahonda and Alcalá de Henares.

John Barker fled to Tenerife nine years ago while on bail for cocaine and amphetamine trafficking charges.

John Barker fled to Tenerife nine years ago while on bail for cocaine and amphetamine trafficking charges. The 51-year-old, from Irvine, Ayrshire, was caught earlier this year after he appeared on a list of suspected British criminals thought to be in Spain. During his trial, he had denied any involvement with drugs. Barker was wanted by Strathclyde Police under two arrest warrants. They related to trafficking drugs, valued at more than £110,000, within Scotland in 1998 and 1999.
He was extradited earlier this year after his details were posted on a Crimestoppers website targeting Spanish resorts. The operation was co-ordinated by Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Spanish authorities. Bill Hughes, of Soca, said: "British crooks who thought they could enjoy a yachts and villas lifestyle in Spain have received a nasty shock. "Many of them are now experiencing a rather different lifestyle at Her Majesty's pleasure."

David Hartley seeking a court order to allow to be transferred from a prison in Barcelona back to England to serve his sentence

David Hartley was jailed for 16 years in Spain last month after being convicted of killing his friend Paul Pedersen at a campsite near Barcelona six years ago.
Hartley, who was a drug user and drinker, strangled Danish holidaymaker Pedersen as he slept on the night of 23rd June 2002 before stealing 200 euros from his victim's pocket.After the attack, Hartley fled back to Mansfield but was arrested for the murder later that year.Despite a two-year battle by solicitor Paul Bacon to try to stop Hartley being extradited, the Home Secretary ordered that the 41-year-old return to Spain to await his trial.Now four years on, Mr Bacon is seeking a court order to allow Hartley to be transferred from a prison in Barcelona back to England to serve his sentence.
Speaking to Chad this week, Mr Bacon said: "Hartley has been in Spain for the last four years after we lost the fight to stop his extradition."He cannot speak any Spanish other than the odd word he has picked up in prison while awaiting his trial and he wants to be close to his family."He has kept in touch with his relatives, but being in Spain obviously makes visiting him difficult or impossible for some of his elderly relatives."I believe he stands a good chance of being transferred to a prison in England to serve his sentence, but because the Spanish judicial system is so slow it may take some time."

Four Britons arrested with half ton of of hashish in Alicante and Murcia

Five people were arrested, four Britons and a Romanian, in Benijófar, Alicante and El Garruchal, Murcia.One of the main players in the group had a chalet in El Garruchal, and it was there that the drugs were loaded into a van.The arrested men were part of the group thought to be planning to take the drug by van to the U.K., with two advance vehicles warning of any police presence.The National Police say their operation, codenamed ‘Rostel’ was mounted after another group based in SE Spain tried to take drugs to the U.K. from ports on the Levante coast.
A stolen luxury car and Russian firearm were also impounded in the police operation.

Lee Cook and Jemma France from Manchester were found outside covered in blood by the hotel’s porter.

British couple from Manchester are in hospital on Gran Canaria after falling from the sixth floor balcony of their holiday apartment.28 year old Lee Cook and 18 year old Jemma France were found outside covered in blood by the hotel’s porter. They had landed on plastic tables which are thought to have broken their fall.They were on holiday with eight friends, taking four rooms between them at the Casablanca Apartments in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria.
Police have opened a full investigation into the fall which happened at 3am yesterday morning.

Drug ring arrested accused of smuggling cocaine from Spain into Italy

Italian police say they have broken up a drug ring accused of smuggling cocaine from Spain into Italy and arrested 22 people.Police in the southern city of Battipaglia say police made the arrests in pre-dawn raids Wednesday across the Campania region. They also seized 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of cocaine.Police say one of the detained suspects is Spanish and the rest are Italian. Three more suspects are still being sought.

Thieves broke into a jewellery shop

Thieves broke into a jewellery shop in Las Americas in the early hours of Thursday morning, getting away with 80,000 euros worth of gold and jewellery.The thieves gained entry to the premises in Avenida Rafael Puig, through the back door leading to an inner office, after cutting their way through a wire fence.
Staff arrived for work yesterday morning to find display cabinets broken and trays of gold rings and bracelets missing.
The thieves appear to have left in a hurry as several pieces of jewellery were found outside, apparently dropped in the haste of making their getaway.
Forensic experts were quickly on the scene yesterday morning to try to find clues as to the identity of the thieves

x-rays revealed they were carrying 675g of cocaine in capsules in their stomachs.

Two people were arrested this morning at Tenerifes south airport and charged with attempting to smuggle cocaine into the island.The two have been identified as F.S.G.M., a 26-year-old Colombian man and K.A.P.G., a 19-year-old woman from Ecuador.Guardia Civil officers at the airport became suspicious when the two appeared to be nervous when coming through customs.After a check of their luggage produced no illegal substances, the two were transferred to a local hospital where x-rays revealed they were carrying 675g of cocaine in capsules in their stomachs.

Four Britons have been arrested in connection with the latest shooting incident in Puerto Banús

Four Britons have been arrested in connection with the latest shooting incident in Puerto Banús on September 24 of club security boss, Marvin Herbert, originally from Liverpool.Named by the police as 40 year old M.A.A., 62 year old K.A.A., 59 year old M.Z.S., and 40 year old M.L.K., all four are believed to have taken part in the attempted assassination. The victim was shot five times in his right eye, right leg, right arm, pelvis and genitals, and remains in hospital in a serious condition after undergoing surgery two times.The police operation in the case has now been named ‘Cristalino’ and considers the shooting to be drugs related.

British girl saw her mother and sister swept away by floods in Spain and killed, officials said today.

British girl saw her mother and sister swept away by floods in Spain and killed, officials said today. The victims, aged 47 and 14, were crossing a gully on foot in L'Olleria, near Valencia, to get to their house yesterday evening. The mother was named as Lauren Cullen. She and her daughter had lived in Spain for the past four years, local police said. The pair were trying to cross the River Clariano to get home but were carried off by the current. Their bodies were retrieved this morning.
The woman's other daughter and another woman were with them but managed to get out of the river and alert police. A spokesman for L'Olleria's town hall said: "Everyone in the area is shocked at what happened. "The dead women, a mother and her daughter, are both British. "One of the survivors is the mother's other daughter. She was waiting for her mum and sister to cross before she followed." The British Embassy in Spain said local consular officials were providing assistance to the family. The Valencia region has experienced heavy rains in recent days. Rainwater inundated streets, tunnels and garages and blocked roads and railway lines in the Valencia region. The ports of Valencia, Gandia and Sagunto were closed. In southern Spain, stormy weather prompted the suspension of ferry links with the Moroccan port of Tangier and Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta. A firefighter who went to empty a flooded garage sustained burns from equipment and another person was injured by a mudslide in Ceuta.

Gerard John Dutton convicted lorry had travelled across from Alicante, Spain and had hidden 1.5 tonnes of the drug in six pallets of floor tiles.

Gerard John Dutton, 61, of Saddlemakers Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, set up two false companies in order to facilitate the importation of two separate loads of cannabis and admitted the charge at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday 8 October.
The charge was a result of Operation Cromer, an investigation run by the Met's Project Team, which spent seven months identifying an organised criminal network involved in importing and supplying cannabis from southern Spain.The team passed intelligence onto H.M. Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and on 3 April, they stopped and searched a Spanish registered lorry arriving into Dover's eastern docks. The lorry had travelled across from Alicante, Spain and had hidden 1.5 tonnes of the drug in six pallets of floor tiles.On 8 July, HMRC officers stopped a further Spanish registered lorry as it came through the port of Dover. In this instance they discovered six pallets of 'dressed stone', hiding a further 1.56 tonnes of cannabis resin.Dutton was subsequently arrested the same day in North Yorkshire and brought back to London for questioning.The lorry drivers and haulage companies involved in the case were innocent victims, duped into believing the loads were genuine cargos of tile and stone.Detective Inspector Grant Johnson from the Met's Project Team, said: "Dutton went out of his way to dissociate himself from the cargo, by setting up two false companies.

Alhaurin el Grande ,Five people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil

Five people have been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Alhaurin el Grande for possessing over 50 marijuana plants in their houses. In one of the houses, the Guardia Civil discovered a five square metre plantation. The plants measured over 2.5 metres in height and weighed five kilograms. The residents of the house, identified only by the initials, J.V.M.R., F.A.H., and L.M.H., were arrested on suspicion of offences against public health.In the second house, the Guardia Civil found a plantation of 41 plants and 61 dry branches, weighing 23 kilograms. Some 4.3 grams of hashish was also found and M.M.R. and J.M.B., the residents of the house, were arrested.

House jacking Romanian and a Spaniard sentenced to total of 18 years and 6 months in jail for holding a British couple hostage

Provincial Court in Alicante has sent a Romanian and a Spaniard to total of 18 years and 6 months in jail for holding a British couple hostage in their home in Moraira, Alicante in April 2004. The two acted with two others to kidnap and rob the couple in the ‘Club Moraira’ urbanisation, threatening them with a knife and two pistols and finally leaving the wife tied up in a house in Cabo de la Nao.
The two in court in Alicante this week admitted their guilt in the case and the sentences against them are the result of a plea deal under which they also have to pay 2,600 € to the couple with 200 British pounds. They told the court that they went to the British couple’s house with the intention of getting all that they could and as there was little cash in the house decided to hold the couple until the banks opened the following morning. The man was escorted to the bank to withdraw 20,000 €, but in the bank he managed to alert a worker that he was being robbed and was only therefore given 500 €.

British man been murdered in Barcelona

Body of the 46 year old man, who has not been named, was found by a friend on Thursday afternoon. The Catalan regional police, Los Mossos d’Esquadra, are investigating what they describe as the violent death of a 46 year old British man whose body was found in the l’Eixample area of Barcelona. Police believe he was beaten to death, although they are waiting for the full results of the autopsy.
They were alerted to the case by a phone call at 4pm on Thursday afternoon from a friend of the man who found the body of his friend when he went to visit

Moroccan police said they had seized a small airplane carrying 1.6 tonnes (1,600 kilos) of hashish in the north of the country

Moroccan police said they had seized a small airplane carrying 1.6 tonnes (1,600 kilos) of hashish in the north of the country, MAP news agency reported.
The shipment was caught in a police air operation Thursday night after the plane had managed to escape once earlier, said MAP.Police were still searching for the plane's owners.The announcement of the bust came on the same day Spanish police announced they had broken up one of the country's biggest drug trafficking rings which had been bringing in drugs from Morocco.Spanish police said they arrested 44 suspects believed to have shipped hashish from Morocco to Spain, before trafficking it to other European nations.
In June, a helicopter travelling from Fes, Morocco, was caught in the south of France carrying 560 kilos (0.6 tonnes) of cannibis resin.

Michael Dermot McArdle found guilty of his wife’s manslaughter by Malaga court .

The jury of nine voted by a majority of 7 to 2 to convict the 39-year-old Dundalk father of causing the death of his wife Kelly-Anne Corcoran during a heated argument on the evening of February 11th 2000, the day the family arrived on holiday on the Costa del Sol. After deliberating for more than one day, the jurors delivered their verdict shortly before lunchtime in Malaga Criminal Court, with members of both families present. The jury found that, as the argument escalated, McArdle pushed his wife on the balcony of their hotel room, causing her to fall over the rails.
However, it did not believe that he intended to kill her and cleared him of the murder charge brought by a private prosecutor acting on behalf of the Corcoran family. Michael Dermot McArdle faces a sentence of up to 4 years in jail after being found guilty of his wife’s manslaughter by a court in Malaga.In a very detailed statement, in which reference was repeatedly made to the formal list of questions the judge issued to the jurors yesterday, the jury foreman explained that on the basis of the evidence submitted, the jury believed that McArdle “did not set out deliberately to kill his wife” and therefore it could no convict him of her murder.
However, it also rejected as “highly implausible” the defendant’s version that Kelly-Ann tripped and fell to her death in trying to prevent their son from leaning over the rail. The jury was satisfied that the reconstruction of the fall by police and forensic experts had showed that she could not have fallen over the rail on her own as alleged by the defence. In a brief statement, read on the courthouse steps following the verdict, Ms Corcoran’s family expressed its gratitude to authorities and police in both Spain and Ireland “for bringing Mr McArdle to justice”.
Spokesman Peter Moran, Kelly-Ann’s brother-in-law, said that there were “no winners in this terrible situation”. McArdle left the court with his family after the judge turned down a prosecution request for him to be remanded in prison until sentence is passed in approximately 10 days.

Freddie Thompson moved to Torrevieja in southern Spain after major traffickers told him to pay up or be killed

Thompson moved to Torrevieja in southern Spain after major traffickers told him to pay up or be killed after €6m in drugs were seized by gardai at the weekend.
“They are known as Fat Freddie and Little Richard. If Freddie shouts jump, Richie says ‘how high?’,” a source said today. Gardai also rubbished weekend reports that a truce had been called between Thompson’s crew and the bitter rivals, the so-called Rastas. The feud between the two groups has led to 15 murders. ‘Little’ Richie Thompson is now one of the only people Freddie trusts as threats on his life increase. The older brother has become Freddie's driver, and the pair were arrested recently after they were stopped by gardai in Drimnagh. “Freddie is becoming increasingly isolated and paranoid,” said one senior garda source. “Who better to trust than your own brother?” Fresh threats on Thompson's life saw the crime lord flee to Torrevieja in Spain last week, and despite a media report today, no truce has been announced in the bitter Crumlin/Drimnagh feud.

Michael 'Dermot' McArdle was given the chance of escaping jail in a plea bargain deal moments before his murder trial started.

Michael 'Dermot' McArdle was given the chance of escaping jail in a plea bargain deal moments before his murder trial started.State prosecutor Carlos Yanez offered Mr McArdle the sweetener of a two-year-prison sentence if he admitted killing wife Kelly-Anne eight years ago in a Spanish hotel room.Jail sentences of two years or less are automatically suspended in Spain in cases where defendants have no criminal records.The nine Spanish jurors set to decide Mr McArdle's fate will be taken to a secret destination tomorrow to start their deliberations. They can deliver one of three verdicts; manslaughter as sought by the Spanish state prosecutor, murder which has been urged by lawyers acting for the family of the dead woman or acquittal.

Verdict Michael Dermot McArdle is expected tomorrow.

verdict in the case of Michael Dermot McArdle, the Irish man who is accused of throwing his wife to her death from a Marbella hotel balcony in 2000 is expected tomorrow.After a week of evidence the case concluded in Málaga’s Provincial Court on Saturday with the final statement from the 39 year old accused who insisted that he did not kill his 28 year wife Kelly-Anne.
He told the court that she tripped and fell over the balcony as she tried to stop their toddler son from climbing on the railing.
He made his plea to the jury through an interpreter and rejected claims from other witnesses in the case that his marriage had been a violent and troubled one. He also is reported to have refused a plea-bargain, insisting on his innocence.
The state prosecutor has however reduced the charge from murder to reckless manslaughter after contradictions were noticed in some of the witnesses' declarations, and at 10am this morning the jury will be given a list of questions which they have to consider before issuing their verdict.

Torrevieja and Alicante drug trafficking arrests

Six people have been arrested across the Vega Baja area in connection with a drug trafficking gang which dealt with large amounts of cocaine in Torrevieja and Alicante.The police operation started some three months ago and has so far recovered 3.5 kilos of the drug.All six people arrested are from Latin America and in their 30’s, and some have a record on similar charges. The head of the group has been named as 35 year old M.V.C. who was arrested on drug charges in 2001. The group now go before the duty judge in Torrevieja.

Gary Glitter planning to buy a posh pad in Puerto Banus

Glitter had made plans to start a new life on the Costa Del Sol, but when gangland bosses heard of it, they vowed that they would kill him if he ever set foot in Spain.If Gary Glitter sets foot in Spain, hes dead. One of the biggest British gangsters in Spain is so concerned about him trying to start a new life over here he has offered 1million pounds to anyone who takes him out, Daily Star quoted a gangland source as saying.
What he has done to all those kids is just disgusting and he should be locked up for life. But as the courts have decided to set him free, people over here have decided to take the law into their own hands…and there are plenty of people who would be happy to kill him.The money is just a bonus. Most of the gangsters would be happy to bump him off for nothing, the source stated.Glitter, 64, was planning to buy a posh pad in Puerto Banus in Marbella, but was stopped by police from going to Spain via France last week, and a Foreign Travel Order was granted banning him from leaving the country.The area is a popular celebrity spot, and Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, had been hoping to lose himself among them, but the area also happens to house a number of families with young children, making drug barons and gangsters, who run the resort, want him out.There are a lot of guys out here who are violent men on the run from the police in the UK. They have nothing to lose by wiping out Glitter, the source revealed.No one wants him here and even though these are bad guys, they care about kids and they dont want him preying on the youngsters who come here for a nice holiday, the source added.Glitter has been banned from travelling to France or Spain by Ashford magistrates.

La Casita, in Nueva Andalucía six police arrested for rape and ill-treatment

The two policemen at the centre of the matter have been held in the cells and are expected to go before the judge later today. The two are reported to have other disciplinary measures outstanding against them.number of local police from Marbella who have now been arrested in connection with the rape and ill-treatment of a prostitute in a club, La Casita, in Nueva Andalucía, has risen to six.Four of the men are now released with charges outstanding, charged with ‘looking the other way’ regarding their two colleagues who were actually involved in the incident.Now investigations are underway to try and establish if pressures were put on the club concerned and also to the possible presence of drugs in the venue.Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, has said the incident is ‘very serious’ and repeated her policy of zero tolerance in such matters.

44 members of an International drug trafficking ring arrested in Málaga province

44 members of an International drug trafficking ring which operated in many European countries have been arrested in Málaga province. 34 of those arrested are Spanish, with 13 Moroccans, four French, two Dutch, a Palestinian and a Gibraltarian. In the operation the Civil Guard recovered three tons of hashish and three kilos of cocaine, together with 16 vehicles, four boats, two jet skies, two pistols and more than 6,800 € in cash with other documents.The group is thought to have been made up of three cells all controlled by the Moroccan boss based on the Costa del Sol, one which brought the drug over from Morocco and two others which distributed the drugs in Spain and across Europe.

Dermot McArdle state prosecutor changes his charge from murder to manslaughter.

Spanish state prosecutor changed his charge from murder to manslaughter.Carlos Yanez told the jury he now believed Dermot McArdle pushed 28-year-old wife Kelly-Anne over the balcony of their Spanish hotel during a row but tried to save her before she fell to her death.And in a shock development he asked judge Fernando Gonzalez to jail McArdle for just four years if he is convicted of the lesser crime.
The lawyer opened the trial in the Costa del Sol town of Malaga on Tuesday demanding a murder conviction and a 14 year prison sentence for the factory manager from Haggardstown, Dundalk, Co Louth.Under the Spanish system McArdle may still be convicted of murder despite the state prosecutor now asking for his conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Unlike in Ireland, there are three lawyers in court all representing different interests -- defence lawyer, state prosecutor and a lawyer prosecuting privately for Kelly Anne's family. Yesterday's move meant the private lawyer hired by Kelly-Anne's family now stands alone in claiming McArdle deliberately pushed the mum-of-two to her death from their fourth-floor room at Marbella's Melia Don Pepe Hotel on February 11, 2000.The jury therefore will have three choices on Monday when they begin to deliberate: acquit McArdle, convict him of murder or convict him of the lesser crime of manslaughter.
Prior to the state prosecutor's change of tack, they would have had only two choices, acquitting him or convicting him of murder.Mr Yanez stunned the courtroom into silence at the end of yesterday's court session by saying: "The state maintains that around 7pm on February 11, 2000, the accused started a heated argument with his wife in the room of their hotel."That argument continued on the balcony where the accused increased his abuse to the point that he used force against her which induced her in the direction of the balcony in such a way that she went over the balcony and was left holding on to a handrailAsking for McArdle to be convicted of the crime of manslaughter, he added: "We want him to be jailed for four years and ordered to pay €100,000 compensation to Kelly-Anne's parents and €60,000 compensation to each of her sons."The move left the dead woman's friends and relatives in a state of shock. The new accusation McArdle now faces carries a prison sentence of two and a half to four years.

When the Cocaine ran out Six Marbella local policeman have been arrested in connection with alleged sexaul agression against women in a club

Six Marbella local policeman have been arrested in connection with alleged sexaul agression against women in a club in Nueva Andalucía.
The Instruction Judge One in Marbella, Ricardo Puyol, yesterday took the statements from the three women who had complained about being the victims of sexual aggression from a local policeman in a club in Nueva Andalucía. The two women told the court that when the cocaine ran out, was when the aggressions started.The judge yesterday decided to postpone the declarations from the two policemen at the centre of the allegations by 24 hours, saying he first wanted to talk to other witnesses in case. The policemen were taken to the court yesterday and remained there for six hours before being returned to the cells. Three other local policemen and a police woman have also been arrested in the case for allegedly turning a blind eye to the activities of their two colleagues.

David George Hartley, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Provincial Court in Barcelona

David George Hartley, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Provincial Court in Barcelona for the murder of a Danish friend of his, Paul Pedersen, at a campsite near the city six years ago. He has already been held in prison for six years awaiting trial, four years in Spain and two in Britain.The killing happened in June 2002 and the verdict was published by the court today after Hartley was found guilty by the jury of nine at the five day trial in September, pleading not guilty.
He was also given an additional two year sentence for stealing 200 € from his victim before strangling him.The court heard how the two men met at the Tres Estrellas campsite in Gavà and became friends, sharing a tent, with witnesses saying they were always together. But then on the night of June 23 Hartley strangled Pederson in his sleep, fleeing after the murder to Benidorm and then back to Britain.Two British witnesses told the court that Hartley had told them about the killing and his former girlfriend also said that he was a drinker and drug user, and that he believed he had strangled a man in Spain although was not sure.The defence claimed there was no evidence to prove he had carried out the crime.Hartley was also ordered to pay compensation of 60,000 € to each one of the two Danish daughters of the dead man.

Steve Waddington slipped off the hotel room balcony, at Benalmadena, on the Costa Del Sol in Spain, after a night of heavy drinking.

35-year-old Steve Waddington slipped off the hotel room balcony, at Benalmadena, on the Costa Del Sol in Spain, after a night of heavy drinking.His wife Sarah, 28, walked into the room to find Steve dangling off the balcony, calling for help – she wasn’t able to reach him.
“I'm just devastated. We were in love and I will never ever be able to get over this loss,” Sarah told the Middleton Guardian.The couple from Manchester in the UK had married six weeks earlier, and had two children.Sarah had a three-year-old son from a previous marriage, and they had an adopted daughter, 14-year-old Caragh.
Sarah had adopted Caragh after her mother, Sarah’s auntie, died from cancer in 2004.
"He was the perfect father figure to me and Harry, I wouldn't have changed him for the world,” Caragh said.“I still can't believe he's gone and I never will, he will always be loved and missed by many - especially us."