Cleaner shot dead in Toledo bank robbery

A cleaner has been shot dead today, Friday, during a bank robbery in Santa Cruz de Retamar, Toledo today. It happened in a branch of the Caja Rural Castilla-La Mancha. Three individuals with their faces covered were waiting for the bank employees in the office at 8am. The three staff and the regional director of the Bank, were guided at gunpoint into a side room. It seems the cleaner came in just afterwards, as the thieves were gagging the staff, and shots were fired, killing the woman. The thieves then panicked and left without the money. One of the three thieves has now been detained and the search continues for the other two.

Canadian wanted on sex offences nabbed in Spain

A former Manitoba man wanted on sex abuse charges has been nabbed by police in Spain after an international manhunt. Iain Kenneth Smy, 49, was initially arrested in Ontario in 2009 on nine counts of sexual assault. The allegations date back to 1984 and involve boys who were between 11 and 15 at the time in two youth organizations in Brandon, Man. Smy was in a position of authority within the organizations, which police have declined to name. The assaults allegedly happened during group outings, police said. Not long after his October 2009 arrest, Smy was released on bail with court approval to live in Sarnia, Ont., but return to Brandon for court dates. Police said Smy's passport was seized when he got bail, but that didn't stop him from missing a court appearance in July 2010, they said, and then disappearing altogether. "We certainly do have information to support that he was able to obtain further travel documents," said Const. Jason Michalyshen. Police allege the man somehow got his hands on a British passport. Police said Smy's parents live in Britain, though they declined to say where. A joint investigative squad made up of RCMP and Winnipeg police confirmed Smy had skipped the country and made his way to Europe. Several different police forces, including officers in London, England, and Ireland, got involved in the case. Investigators tracked Smy to Malaga, Spain, where he was arrested Monday morning by local police. Smy is being held in Madrid as efforts to extradite him unfold, police said. It's not often police in Manitoba are forced to go to these lengths to retrieve an accused. "It does happen from time to time. There is a uniqueness to this, not something we do on a daily or weekly basis. Unique, but something we're not afraid to do," said Michalyshen.

Acquitted six Britons accused of 'cleaning' drug money in the South of Tenerife

The High Court acquitted six Britons residing in the South Island of the alleged crimes of drug trafficking, money laundering and forgery. The prosecution asked for them twelve years in prison and fines totaling EUR 63,948,712.14. The facts date back to October 23, 2008 when Stephen Dennis Brown, British resident in Portugal, only convicted of a crime against public health, engaging in frequent trips to Spain, Tenerife and Marbella in particular was under Gerard Mooney driving a truck with a load of cleaning cow udders and camouflaged within 46, 801 kilos of amphetamines and two kilos of hashish. The vehicle was intercepted by British police on the highway A-40 in Oxfordshire. The drug had reached a market value of 806,662.04 euros wholesale. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), British agency responsible for investigations into major criminal organizations alerted the National Police UDYCO that British subjects are used to transport cocaine were located in southern Spain and Canary Islands. Within this operation was mentioned about the shipment of vehicles from the Canary Islands in a ferry to Cadiz, which ultimately was never produced. Heritage investigations have uncovered that James Mac Donald, alias Jim and his wife appeared as owners of a bungalow located in Las Mimosas in Adeje, with two parking spaces. According to the police was in charge of transport and logistics. Another defendant Robert Ian Donaldson, aka Ian Small or owned nine homes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas and Santiago del Teide, with a value of 1,974,000 euros. In addition, your company Ians Sports Cars also appeared as owner of two houses in San Miguel de Abona and three rustic farm in Granadilla de Abona, as well as two Ferraris, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mitsubishi L200, a Hummer, Audi Q7, two motorcycles water and a speedboat valued at 3,300,000 euros. This according to the researchers dealt with the accounting and organizational management. The National Police discovered that several of the defendants also maintained in Gran Canaria societies through a company Scruffy Murphy and the club Fibber Magee and Scroti. The National Court ruled that you could only convict Stephan D. Brown, for an offense against public health, and sentenced to 6 years and 6 months imprisonment and a fine of 808,253 euros. While James Mac Donald, Ian Donaldson Robert, Ronald and Deborah O'Dea Tamara Learmouth, aka Debbie, who took advantage of his job at a travel agency to provide the tickets, were acquitted of the crimes of drug trafficking and money laundering. In addition, acquitted of the same offense to Mary Durkin and Stephen Hendry D. Brown.

The Marbella Court has been waiting 18 months to question Sean Connery

The court in Marbella has been waiting 18 months for Sean Connery and his wife Micheline to respond to questions regarding an alleged money laundering operation related to sale of the Connery villa. The possible participation of companies linked to the couple in an allegedly irregular real estate deal involving the sale of their Marbella home ‘Malibu’ is under investigation in the case, which results from a complaint presented to the anti-corruption prosecutor in 2006. It has been estimated that Marbella Town Hall lost out to the tune of 2.7 million € because of the deal which has been estimated to have generated profits of 53 million as 72 luxury apartments were built on the site of the villa, previously owned by the Connerys. The actor and his wife face money laundering charges, with reported transfers of more than 37 million € abroad, to the U.K. and Uruguay reported to be under investigation. Now the case has lost its second instruction judge in Marbella, Manuel Jaén Vallejo, who has been promoted into the Ministry for Justice. That means that Instruction Court 1 in Marbella has been left in the hands of a support judge until a new one can be appointed. There are three parts to the case, a deal signed between ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz, and the Malibú S.A. company, the owner of the Connery villa, and two others regarding adjoining property owned by the company, ‘By the Sea’. 80 year old Sean Connery claimed reasons of poor health for his lack of an appearance in October 2010 despite being told, by letter to his house in Nassau, that ‘all legal measures available, both in national legislation and international legislation would be used’ to oblige Connery and his wife to declare. Bail was set at 3.3 million € for the couple in terms of civil responsibility.

Spain scraps health benefits for illegal immigrants

Spain takes pride in its universal health care but Europe's debt crisis has spurred tough budget cuts that will bring sometimes life-saving treatment for illegal immigrants to an abrupt end. Carmen Maria, a 33-year-old woman from Nicaragua who arrived in the country in 2010, has no legal ID in Spain but has benefitted from free health coverage for her illness nonetheless. She has been working as a cleaner and despite failing to obtain residency she was able to enjoy the same health care as any legal Spanish citizen. Ten months ago she was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, a skin disease which can be associated with a tumour and lead to potentially fatal complications. "It's considered a rare disease and my condition requires constant medical monitoring," said Carmen Maria, whose husband and four children still live in Nicaragua. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government, faced with soaring unemployment, rising debt and a slide into recession, has launched an austerity plan aimed at cutting the deficit from 8.5 percent of GDP last year to 5.3 percent in 2012. To achieve the package's target of cutting health expenditure by seven billion euros ($9.3 billion), only legal immigrants will retain health coverage as of September 1. Among illegal immigrants, only children, pregnant women and emergency cases will qualify for free treatment. "This will only put Spain on a par with other European Union countries," according to Health Minister Ana Mato. The measure will leave half a million illegal immigrants who have been counting on Spain's health coverage with no safety net, and several organisations have been sounding alarm bells. Carmen Maria decided to seek help from the group SOS Racismo, saying, "I'm alone here, I don't have anyone." "The economic crisis, no matter how severe it is, should not be an excuse for stripping immigrants of all their rights," SOS Racismo said, describing access to health care as "a fundamental right". "This is a very dangerous situation," said Vladimir Paspuel, who heads Ruminahui, a Spanish-Ecuadorian association that offers social and legal assistance to immigrants. "It can have life-threatening consequences in cases where a disease is not treated in time," he said. "Another thing is that it sends a subliminal message to Spanish society: 'Illegal immigrants are the ones who are pilfering the money, they are responsible for the crisis'," he explained. In a bid to defuse any surge in anti-immigrant rhetoric among the public following the conservative government's decision, groups such Ruminahui point out that immigrants are more sparing with their visits to the doctor. According to a study carried out by a health expert and published in the El Pais daily, immigrants on average go 5.05 times when Spaniards go 7.65 times over the same period. "I don't go to the doctor more than twice a year," said Wilson Quintero, a 42-year-old Ecuadorian. But scrapping health coverage for 500,000 Latin Americans, North Africans and Eastern Europeans in Spain "is a serious problem", he said. "If someone falls ill and doesn't have a steady job, what is he supposed to do? It will become very difficult," he said. Wilson has lived in Spain since 2002 and worked as a builder until the real estate bubble burst, which led him to lose first his job and then his residency. Spain's unemployment rate is the highest in the industrialised world at 24.4 percent. It is even higher among immigrants at more than 40 percent.

Spanish court clears four Scots of drug trafficking

Four Scots have been acquitted by a Spanish court of drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Ronald O'Dea, 45, from Kilmarnock, Mary Durkin Hendry, 61 from Hamilton, Ian Donaldson, 32, and James McDonald, 62, both from Glasgow, were cleared at the National Criminal Court in Madrid. Judges said there were pointers towards clandestine activities but insufficient evidence to convict. Stephen Brown, 45, from London, was convicted of trafficking amphetamines. He was jailed for six-and-a-half years and fined 8,000 euros. Cash forfeited The case followed a four-year operation by Spanish law enforcement agencies and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency into amphetamine smuggling and money laundering. Mr O'Dea and Mr McDonald were arrested in Spain in November 2008. Mr Donaldson, who fled, was later extradited from Scotland. He forfeited £70,000 which had been found when he was arrested. The Spanish judges said there was reasonable doubt about clandestine activities between the accused, and property they owned without legitimate income to support it. But they said there was insufficient evidence to convict them and Ms Hendry, who was also charged.

latin gang, more violent than the Latin Kings, called Las Maras, could be established in Spain within three years.

A Civil Guard sergeant, who lived for a time in Honduras, has warned that a latin gang, more violent than the Latin Kings, called Las Maras, could be established in Spain within three years. Sergeant Pedro Gallego warned that the Latin Kings and the Ñetas, who used to have a higher presence in Spain were only ‘sleeping’ now, but would see a resurgence in activity as the economic crisis bites and youth unemployment rises. Members are attracted to join the gang because of its lifestyle, status and quick access to sex and drugs. Gallego has published a book with the conclusions of his study La Mara al Desnudo. The book explains that the tattoos of the Mara gang members are important and represent secret codes between them.

The Judge in Instruction Court 1 in Torremolinos has ordered provisional prison without bail for a man who was arrested in Benalmádena on Wednesday.

The man had put his four year old step-daughter in the boot of his car with the presumed intention of protecting her from chicken pox. The 27 year old now faces charges of illegal detention and attempted murder with malice. Although he did not have the intention of killing the girl, his actions could have caused her death, according to judicial sources. It happened just after midnight on Wednesday in Calle Cómpeta in the centre of Arroyo de la Miel. Police were alerted by a resident who heard the cries from the child in the boot. On their arrival they broke a window of the car so air could get inside and decided to dismantle the back seat to gain access to the girl. She was not seriously injured although did show scratches and bruises on her face. As the child was being rescued the man, named as F.A.C. came out of the flat with the intention of using the car, and was promptly arrested by the Local Police. The man argued that he had shut the child in the boot so the child did not get chicken pox, because a family member suffering from the disease was in his home. The mother was not in the house at the time. Click here for related stories  mobile |  email this article |  printer friendly page More Spain News : Andalucía : Costa del Sol Readers' comments: Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy. Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad. Leave a comment Name and location: Email (will NOT be published): Notify on replies: Comment: Verification: click on image to refresh it    del.icio.us |  digg |  technorati |  yahoo | Stumble It! Facebook | Reddit | Newsvine | Meneame | Wikio Blink | Google | Fresqui | MSN reporters | Live Spaces My Space | Fark | Mixx | Twitter Costa del Sol Man locks his 4 year old step daughter in car boot so she can't catch Chicken Pox Spanish Oddities 76 year old pensioner fined 20 € for chaining herself to her bank Spanish Oddities British Woman gets attacked by eagle as she walks her dogs Spanish Oddities Argentina paper dresses up Marino Rajoy as a butano delivery man Spanish Oddities Model mum helps rescued Beared Vulture chick Spanish Oddities The designers' loo comes to Barcelona Watch video More Spanish Oddities | | Home | About | Add a Directory Link | Contact Us | New Links | Terms | Privacy Policy | Promote Your Site | RSS | Site Map

Malaya case court secretary to continue

The Malaya case, investigating the corruption in Marbella Town Hall, opened in Málaga in September 2010. A possible obstacle which could have complicated the case considerably was solved on Wednesday when the Justice Ministry said they were extending the services of the judicial secretary who has been working exclusively on the case, Inmaculada Núñez, who original contract was set to expire on April 30. President of the Málaga court, José Godino, announced the renovation of the contract after the session on Wednesday. Meanwhile the businessman Tomás Olivo, one of the accused in the Malaya case, has been condemned to five years prison for ill-treating his ex girlfriend, with whom he had a baby daughter. Penal Court 13 in Málaga heard how he had installed cameras in the home so he could watch events when he was not there. Tomás Olivo, who is the owner of the La Cañada Commercial Centre in Marbella, is considered to have acted against his ex with ‘humiliation, aggression and control’ during the relationship and after they broke up. He has been found guilty on three counts of ill-treatment in the family environment, one of them regular abuse. The sentence says that since 2003 and until the start of 2006 he ill-treated the woman by ‘insulting her, pushing her, hitting her, telling her how she should dress, and questioning marks on her body which he thought showed that she had been in contact with another man. He also locked her in the house.

SUV driver who caused Benalmádena coach crash sent to prison for three and a half years

The man who caused the accident on the A7 motorway above Benalmádena on April 19 2008, has been given a three and a half year prison sentence and banned from driving for five years. Nine Finnish tourists died and 26 were injured, some of them seriously, when Jesús Gil Bueno drove his Kia Sportage four-wheel-drive into the side of a coach in what were very wet conditions. The Finnish tourists were on the way to the airport for a flight home after their holidays. The victims of the accident have been compensated with the Jesús Gil Bueno insurance policy. The driver was found to be over the alcohol limit and tracked to have been driving at 152 km/h at the time of the impact.

Spain breaks up gang smuggling Iranians to UK

Spanish police have broken up a gang trying to smuggle Iranian migrants into Britain via the Canary Islands, arresting 22 people. The migrants, charged up to 20,000 euros (£16,300) for the journey, were transported by air or overland by lorry and in luggage compartments of buses. Once in the Canaries, usually the islands of Tenerife or Fuerteventura, they would fly to Britain, police said. Fake passports were found at the home of the alleged ringleader, they added. The Spanish authorities launched their investigation in February, with the arrest of a suspect attempting to board a flight from Tenerife to the UK with forged identification, reports say. The UK Border Agency was also involved in the case. Thirteen people are said to have been arrested in Tenerife, three in Fuerteventura and six in Madrid. While many gang members, including the alleged leader, were based in Spain, others were reportedly scattered abroad in Iran, Greece, Switzerland and Germany. Spanish police said the smugglers had referred to the migrants as cattle or sheep and instructed them how they should act on arrival in Britain. Discounts were given for children while those aged under two were said to have been allowed free passage.

British woman stabbed

 The 53-year-old woman, who has not been named, was rushed to hospital after the incident in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to the Spanish news agency EFE. It is understood that she was stabbed in the stomach with a kitchen knife in her home near the small town of Pinoso, Alicante, during what is thought to have been an attempted robbery. The woman, who was alone at the time, managed to call the emergency services and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she underwent surgery. She is said to be out of danger. The mountainous Pinoso area, on the Alicante/Murcia border, has become increasingly popular with foreign buyers in recent years, with a growing British community. A local newspaper, La Verdad, said that many foreign residents chose to live in isolated countryside houses, which made them an “easy target” for crime. In 2007, a British pensioner called Janette Grocutt living in the hamlet of Paredón, just a few miles from Pinoso, was raped and murdered in her home.

Reopen Madeleine case, police urge

Scotland Yard has urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for Madeleine McCann as detectives said there are 195 potential leads to finding her alive. The detective leading the Metropolitan Police review said the case can still be solved before officers released a picture of what she might now look like as a nine-year-old. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believes her disappearance was a stranger abduction, as he said there are 195 "investigative opportunities". Police refused to say what evidence they had uncovered to suggest Madeleine is alive. Mr Redwood confirmed that his team of more than 30 officers involved in the case had been out to Portugal seven times, including a visit to the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz. It will be five years ago next week since the three-year-old went missing as her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined with friends nearby. A spokesman for the McCanns said the family was pleased with the image. Mr Redwood said his 37 officers had dealt with 40,000 pieces of information but the "primacy still sits in Portugal" in the attempt to find her. Commander Simon Foy said: "Most significantly, the message we want to bring to you is that, on the evidence, there is a possibility that she is alive and we desperately need your help today to appeal directly to the public for information to support our investigation." Mr Redwood said "evidence that she is alive stems from the forensic view of the timeline" that there was the opportunity for her to be taken. Investigations show "there do appear to be gaps", he added. Detectives in Portugal are also understood to want the case reopened but must gain judicial approval via the courts.

Insecure websites to be named and shamed after checks

Companies that do not do enough to keep their websites secure are to be named and shamed to help improve security. The list of good and bad sites will be published regularly by the non-profit Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM). A survey carried out to launch the group found that more than 52% of sites tested were using versions of security protocols known to be compromised. The group will test websites to see how well they have implemented basic security software. Security fundamentals The group has been set up by security experts and entrepreneurs frustrated by the slow pace of improvements in online safety. "We want to stimulate some initiatives and get something done," said TIM's founder Philippe Courtot, serial entrepreneur and chief executive of security firm Qualys. He has bankrolled the group with his own money. TIM has initially focused on a widely used technology known as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Experts recruited to help with the initiative include SSL's inventor Dr Taher Elgamal; "white hat" hacker Moxie Marlinspike who has written extensively about attacking the protocol; and Michael Barrett, chief security officer at Paypal. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Everyone is now going to be able to see who has a good grade and who has a bad grade” Philippe Courtot Many websites use SSL to encrypt communications between them and their users. It is used to protect credit card numbers and other valuable data as it travels across the web. "SSL is one of the fundamental parts of the internet," said Mr Courtot. "It's what makes it trustworthy and right now it's not as secure as you think." Compromised certificates TIM plans a two-pronged attack on SSL. The first part would be to run automated tools against websites to test how well they had implemented SSL, said Mr Courtot. "We'll be making it public," he added. "Everyone is now going to be able to see who has a good grade and who has a bad grade." Early tests suggest that about 52% of sites checked ran a version of SSL known to be compromised. Companies who have done a bad job will be encouraged to improve and upgrade their implementations so it gets safer to use those sites. The second part of the initiative concerns the running of the bodies, known as certificate authorities, which guarantee that a website is what it claims to be. TIM said it would work with governments, industry bodies and companies to check that CAs are well run and had not been compromised. "It's a much more complex problem," said Mr Courtot. In 2011, two certificate authorities, DigiNotar and GlobalSign were found to have been compromised. In some cases this meant attackers eavesdropped on what should have been a secure communications channel. Steve Durbin, global vice president of the Information Security Forum which represents security specialists working in large corporations, said many of its members took responsibility for making sure sites were secure. "You cannot just say 'buyer beware'," he said. "That's not good enough anymore. They have a real a duty of care." He said corporations were also increasingly conscious of their reputation for providing safe and secure services to customers. Data breaches, hack attacks and poor security were all likely to hit share prices and could mean they lose customers, he noted.

Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good, study suggests

Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body. See Also: Health & Medicine Pharmacology Birth Defects Mental Health Research Mind & Brain Depression Disorders and Syndromes Psychiatry Reference COX-2 inhibitor Psychoactive drug Seasonal affective disorder Anti-obesity drug "We need to be much more cautious about the widespread use of these drugs," says Paul Andrews, an evolutionary biologist at McMaster University and lead author of the article, published recently in the online journal Frontiers in Psychology. "It's important because millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants each year, and the conventional wisdom about these drugs is that they're safe and effective." Andrews and his colleagues examined previous patient studies into the effects of anti-depressants and determined that the benefits of most anti-depressants, even taken at their best, compare poorly to the risks, which include premature death in elderly patients. Anti-depressants are designed to relieve the symptoms of depression by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain, where it regulates mood. The vast majority of serotonin that the body produces, though, is used for other purposes, including digestion, forming blood clots at wound sites, reproduction and development. What the researchers found is that anti-depressants have negative health effects on all processes normally regulated by serotonin. The findings include these elevated risks: developmental problems in infants problems with sexual stimulation and function and sperm development in adults digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation, indigestion and bloating abnormal bleeding and stroke in the elderly The authors reviewed three recent studies showing that elderly anti-depressant users are more likely to die than non-users, even after taking other important variables into account. The higher death rates indicate that the overall effect of these drugs on the body is more harmful than beneficial. "Serotonin is an ancient chemical. It's intimately regulating many different processes, and when you interfere with these things you can expect, from an evolutionary perspective, that it's going to cause some harm," Andrews says. Millions of people are prescribed anti-depressants every year, and while the conclusions may seem surprising, Andrews says much of the evidence has long been apparent and available. "The thing that's been missing in the debates about anti-depressants is an overall assessment of all these negative effects relative to their potential beneficial effects," he says. "Most of this evidence has been out there for years and nobody has been looking at this basic issue." In previous research, Andrews and his colleagues had questioned the effectiveness of anti-depressants even for their prescribed function, finding that patients were more likely to suffer relapse after going off their medications as their brains worked to re-establish equilibrium. With even the intended function of anti-depressants in question, Andrews says it is important to look critically at their continuing use. "It could change the way we think about such major pharmaceutical drugs," he says. "You've got a minimal benefit, a laundry list of negative effects -- some small, some rare and some not so rare. The issue is: does the list of negative effects outweigh the minimal benefit?"

Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing while on holiday in Portugal half a decade ago, could still be alive, Scotland Yard said on Wednesday.

Madeleine McCann as she might look aged 9  Photo: Teri Blythe

Detectives released a new “age progression” image of the toddler, which they said showed what she would look like today at the age of nine.

On Wednesday, Britain’s biggest police force said that as a result of evidence uncovered during a review “they now believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive”.

Officers have so far identified nearly 200 new items for investigation within historic material and are also “developing what they believe to be genuinely new material”.

Scotland Yard urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for her amid the new "investigative opportunities".

Police said the image, created ahead of what would have been her ninth birthday on May 12, had been created in “close collaboration with the family”.

National Police have arrested in Tenerife an Italian wanted for five homicides in Poland who has been on the run since 2009.

 News of the arrest has just been released, although it happened on March 16. The police statement said he has now been transferred to the National Court for his extradition to Poland. National Police also arrested another Italian on April 11 who is wanted by the Dutch authorities for drug trafficking. He’s been on the run since 1995. And on April 17 the National Police arrested a 33 year old Polish man who was wanted by the Swedish authorities for drug trafficking. The National Police say that these arrests confirm their determination to cooperate with police forces international, and to stop delinquents taking refuge on a paradise island.

British fraudster, Michael Brown, could be in Spain for some six months

Multi-millionaire British fraudster, Michael Brown, who was deported from the Dominican Republic to Spain over the weekend could be in Spain for months before extradition to the U.K. Famous for his 2.5 million pound donation to the Liberal Democrats 2005 election campaign, the 46 year old Glasweigan posed as a bond dealer and claimed connections with royalty to embezzle an estimated 36 million pounds from clients. Among his victims the former chairman of Manchester United who was taken for 8 million pounds. He fled the UK in 2008 and has been living in the Dominican Republic under the name, Darren Nally, since then. An international manhunt arrested him in January but they are still hunting for a missing 18 million €. Brown arrived in Spain on Saturday morning accompanied by offices from the Dominican Republic. Now a European Arrest Warrent is hoped to be enough to get him to Britain, but Channel Four News reports that a London based solicitor, Nigel Richardson, who handled the extradition of a drug suspect from Spain in 2011, has said that even if Brown agrees to the extradition it could still take months. There will be a hearing to see if he does consent to extradition, and if he does it takes place in 21 days. Being such a high profile case could see the Spaniards acting quicker than normal. If he contests the extradition any decision is not likely for some six months. The Home Office and the Serious Organised Crime Office have refused to comment on the case or to say what would happen to him on his arrival in the UK. He has an outstanding seven year prison term, but that could be increased for jumping bail.

British man arrested for stabbing a Senegalese man in Mijas

43 year old British resident of Mijas, named with the initials J.S. has been arrested by Local Police in connection with an aggression against a 52 year old Senegalese man, named with the initials M.N. who was stabbed with a sharp object in the Sitio de Calahonda urbanisation. It happened just after midnight on Saturday night, and the injury is the lumber region. Police called the emergency services who took the injured man to the Costa del Sol Hospital, after he had given them a detailed description of his attacker. A search was started by the patrol which saw how a man tried to flee when the police were seen. Finally the police managed to catch the Briton who refused to identify himself and who also attacked one of the police. He had to be reduced to the ground and suffered the fracture of his left shoulder as a result. Both the Local Police and the Guardia Civil, and private security guards who operate in the estate inspected the scene of the aggression to try and find the weapon used and they found a broken bottle which has been taken into evidence.

police hunt for Michael Brown's missing millions

British police are still trying to trace £18m allegedly stolen by the Liberal Democrats' fugitive donor Michael Brown, who is expected to be extradited to Britain within the next 10 days. Brown, 46, was in a holding cell near Madrid airport on Sunday, having been deported from the Dominican Republic, where he had been on the run from UK authorities for three years. Brown, who gave £2.4m to the Liberal Democrats before the 2005 general election, is not expected to challenge a formal move to extradite him to London which has already been set in motion. He was convicted of theft and false accounting in his absence in Britain in 2008 and sentenced to seven years in jail. Detectives are still trying to trace around £18m of Brown's stolen money, which had been moved between his accounts in the US, Britain and Switzerland, the Guardian understands. Brown was estimated to have stolen more than £60m in a number of frauds. Most of his assets have been accounted for in property deals, a Bentley, a yacht and the private jet once used to fly senior Lib Dems across the UK. However, more than £18m has not yet been accounted for. "The file at Interpol on Brown and his associates remains open," a source told the Guardian. Brown's return will be another embarrassing development in the long-running saga over the Lib Dems' biggest single donation. The party has refused to compensate any of Brown's victims, claiming it received the money in good faith and spent it on the 2005 election campaign. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg welcomed Brown's return to Britain but said on Sunday that the party would not be returning his donation because the Electoral Commission had concluded the money had been received in good faith. The deputy prime minister, who pointed out that the donation was made before he was elected to Westminster, told BBC1's Sunday Politics: "I'm very pleased he's coming back to serve his sentence. This is a convicted fraudster. "I should stress that this is something which happened as far as the Liberal Democrats are concerned before I was even an MP, yet alone leader of the Liberal Democrats. What I've been told is that the Electoral Commission in 2009 looked at this exhaustively – as far as the receipt of that money by the Liberal Democrats from one of his companies. They categorically concluded that the money was received in good faith and all the controls, all the checks that should have been made were reasonably made by the Liberal Democrats at the time. If we'd been shown wanting on those accounts then of course we should pay the money back." But Brown's return will increase focus on the Electoral Commission inquiry into Brown's donations. The inquiry failed to call the Lib Dems' former treasurer, Reg Clark, who resigned over Brown in 2005 and warned advisers to the former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy that Brown should be treated with extreme caution. One of Brown's victims said the Lib Dems should return the money. Tony Brown, managing partner at law firm Bivonas which represents US attorney Robert Mann who lost more than $5m (£3m), said Brown may be asked to give evidence as part of his client's claim against the Lib Dems. "The Lib Dems have refused to repay this money to our client even though they know that this is the proceeds of crime. The Electoral Commission has failed to investigate this properly in our view. So now that Brown is returning to the jurisdiction, we can investigate again and establish the basis on which the Lib Dems received this money." Brown is expected to appear before a Spanish court to confirm his name and will then appear before an extradition hearing within 10 days. City of London police, who first uncovered Brown's fraud, confirmed his deportation. Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart said: "We hope that him facing justice will bring some closure to the victims who suffered as a result of his frauds." A close friend of Brown's told the Guardian on Sunday that he had arrived in Spain on Saturday after "volunteering" for deportation from the Dominican Republic, where he has been hiding for three years under the name of Darren Nally. "He asked to return to Britain. He is going home to face the music," the friend said. Brown appeared to come from nowhere when the party was paid £2.4m in the runup to the 2005 election from his company 5th Avenue Partners. A fast-talking and brash Glaswegian, he had walked into the party's then headquarters in Cowley Street and offered it money. He was not registered to vote, had no interest in politics and had never been a party member, but said he was giving the money to create an even playing field. Brown wined and dined with Charles Kennedy and other party grandees, and used his private jet to fly Kennedy across the country during the election campaign. Former Lib Dem insiders say he dazzled them with stories of Gordonstoun public school, St Andrews University and his connections with royalty and the US government. The truth was that he had attended his local school and completed a City and Guilds in catering at Glasgow College of Food Technology. He had no US government links – although he was wanted in Florida for cheque fraud. He was arrested in late 2005 after four former clients said he had duped them out of more than £40m in a high-yield fraud. His victims included Martin Edwards, the former Manchester United chairman, who had invested £8m with 5th Avenue Partners. The court would later be told that 5th Avenue Partners was wholly fraudulent and Brown had given money to the Lib Dems to give himself an air of respectability while duping his victims. The party had been used as part of his cover story, a judge said. In June 2008, while awaiting trial, Brown fled and a warrant was issued for his arrest. In the weeks before he disappeared, from his Hampstead bail address in north London, he changed his name on the electoral roll to Campbell-Brown and allowed his hair to turn grey. He travelled to the Dominican Republic where he enjoyed a millionaire's lifestyle while on the run. He lived in gated communities yards from some of the most pristine beaches in the Caribbean, drove a series of 4x4 vehicles and was a regular at exclusive golf courses. In Punta Cana, an exclusive resort on the eastern tip of the island, he could often be seen walking his dog – named Charles, after the former Lib Dem leader. He was arrested in Punta Cana in January on unrelated fraud allegations.