Brits in Costa del Sol: Blood on the beaches

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | Express Yourself :: Brits in Costa del Sol: Blood on the beaches: "Paul Feathers, 32, was stabbed to death in front of his girlfriend at his home in the down-market resort of Benalmadena. Police are still hunting two men. Then the naked body of a man was caught in offshore fishing nets on May 5. His killers cut off his hands and feet before putting a bag over his head and a heavy chain round his neck.

He was reported at the weekend to have been identified as a Brit – although the police officially say they are not sure who he was. The latest victim was British expat Daniel Smith. The 24-year-old died in a hail of bullets on Saturday night on the terrace of a bar in the popular holiday resort of Riviera del Sol, near Fuengirola.

Drinkers dived for cover as a gunman opened fire from a high-powered motorbike. The authorities said it had all the hallmarks of a gangland assassination. A 27-year-old Irishman is still being questioned about the killing and a local government spokesman has confirmed the discovery of explosives in a house where the chief suspect is believed to have been holed up.

He is also said to be linked to one of the passengers in a car which was targeted in a drive-by shooting two years ago near the resort of Estepona. Dublin gangster Paddy Doyle was shot dead in that attack. Police believe a Briton with strong contacts to the criminal underworld who is currently held in a Spanish jail is a key lynchpin linking many of these crimes."