Tomb opened to investigate stolen baby allegation, and found to be empty

A judicial commission given the job of exhuming the remains of baby girl, as part of the investigation into alleged stealing of babies, opened the site where the baby’s remains was supposed to be, at an old cemetery in Ronda, Málaga. A court in Málaga had authorised the exhumation to carry out DNA testing to confirm identity, but the tomb was empty. Diario Sur reports the mother said there was nothing there ‘Not even a blanket or clothes, nothing at all, just an empty box with a cross on top’. The parents saw the child being born alive, but they were told later that she had died. The death is not recorded in the Registro Civil.

Gored bullfighter leaves hospital

 

Spanish bullfighter, Juan José Padilla, who was dramatically gored in the face on October 7 as part of the Pilar fiestas in Zaragoza, was released from hospital in the city on Wednesday. He told the press, sitting in a wheelchair and with his face uncovered and clear of any bandage, that he would be putting on his suit of lights and entering the ring again, although he admitted that it was impossible to continue this season. He said he would be back in 2012. Chief Ophthalmology surgeon at the Miguel Servet Hospital, Luis Pablo, described the matador’s recovery as spectacular, given that he arrived in the E.R. with his eye out of its socket. The bullfighter admitted that the prognosis is not so good as the optic nerve has been affected, and his retina also came detached, but he said ‘in medicine you never know, and miracles exist’. He told the press that he would not mind seeing pictures of him being gored, where one horn entered his cheek and exited in his left eye, but he had not done so as yet. ‘I bear no grudge against my profession or the bull’, he said. ‘The bull has given me much grandness’.

UK Benefit Fraud investigators have recently enjoyed more success in the fight against benefit cheats in Spain.

 

 In one of the latest cases to go to prosecution, Debbie Williamson from Rotherham was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 18 months immediate imprisonment for having stolen UK benefits between 2004 and 2009. Ms Williamson had been claiming a number of non-exportable benefits from the UK, including income support. She denied having any connection with Spain, but investigators established she owned property in Valencia, had made regular cash withdrawals abroad and had her daughter in a local Spanish school. In total Ms. Williamson stole £42,558.72 from the British taxpayer by claiming benefits she was not entitled to after her circumstances changed. Ms. Williamson is just one of many cases that make up the estimated £79 million of benefit fraud committed abroad. Although most people claiming UK benefits abroad do so legally, Spain is one of the countries where most UK benefit fraud is committed. In many of these cases, the person has purposefully not informed the UK authorities of a change in their circumstances. Anyone in receipt of a UK State Pension or benefit has the responsibility to keep the department paying their benefit up to date with any changes that could affect their payment, no matter how small the change seems. More information on UK benefits in general and on which ones can and cannot be received whilst living in Spain can be found on the DirectGov website. If you know of someone committing UK benefit fraud whilst living in Spain, such as claiming a non-exportable benefit, working in Spain while in receipt of UK incapacity benefit, or claiming benefit as a single person but living with a partner, you can help to protect the taxpayers’ money. A free and confidential Benefit Fraud Hotline is available in Spain – call 900 554 440 or visit the Benefit Fraud website to help UK investigators close the net on the benefit thieves.

SEPLA call 24 more strikes in Iberia, and some are over Easter

Iberia SEPLA union pilots have announced a new wave of strike action in protest at the company’s plans to start a new low-cost airline, Iberia Express, the first flight of which is set for March 25. They have called 24 more 24 hour strikes, which follow from the previous 12 which have already been seen. The stoppages are between March and May and some affect both the Easter break and bank holiday weekends. The pilots say they have upped their action because the company is refusing to talk and their attitude is ‘a radical rejection of any of the proposals offered by the collective, and to maintain the creation of Iberia Express which will result in the destruction of 8,000 jobs’. The union also claims that Iberia is not respecting Air Safety Regulations on work and rest time for the crew, saying that in one case a pilot has been sacked for this reason. The new strike action will be taken on 16, 19, 23, 25, 26 and 30 of March; 2, 4, 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27 and 30 of April; 2, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25 and 28 of May. On these dates Government imposed minimum services will see some services and normally the links to the Canaries and the Baleares are not affected. The 12 days strike action carried out so far is estimated to have resulted in losses of 32 million €.

Bailed Kyle Thain and James Harris return from Spain

 

Two men from Essex accused of attempted murder in Spain have returned to England. Kyle Thain, 24, and James Harris, 29, had been in Spain for the past seven months after being accused of attacking two men in an Alicante bar in July 2011. The pair, both from Southend, were held in a Spanish prison for four months without charge. They have now been allowed to return to England on strict bail conditions. Mr Harris returned to the UK on Tuesday and his friend Mr Thain arrived at Stansted Airport on Wednesday evening. New lawyer As part of the conditions of their return to the UK, both men must sign in at the Spanish consulate in London twice a month. Speaking before her son Mr Thain's arrival, Sharon Harris, said: "I am so excited and nervous at the same time. "I still can't believe it. I won't be happy until I've got my arms around him at the airport." Both men have protested their innocence and have said they can prove they were elsewhere at the time of the attack. They were released from jail in November and given their passports back after each paid £6,000 in bail, but were told they could not leave the country. A new lawyer has now negotiated their return home. Pablo Sebastian, a Spanish lawyer working in Alicante with offices in Hadleigh in Essex, has been helping the boys' families secure their release. "We are very relieved to have them home," he said. "It is an improvement because they are back with their friends, family and at their jobs." 'Lives disrupted' Mr Sebastian said the men's "impeccable behaviour" while on bail in Spain had persuaded the Spanish judge to allow them back to the UK. It is thought the men's families have paid about £25,000 to cover travel, accommodation and legal costs since the pair were arrested. The men must now wait to hear if they must return to Spain for a trial. Richard Howitt, MEP for the East of England, is now calling for a change in European law to ensure minimum standards of justice across all member states. "The idea they have been several months in prison, outside the country and suffered such a huge financial loss is unacceptable," he said. "If we had a system whereby you respect and uphold each other's system of justice, then Kyle and James could have come home seven months ago. "But their lives have been totally disrupted, as have their families', which is why we need better standards of judicial co-operation at European level."

Mercadona Rocked As Own Label Linked To Canine Deaths

 

Mercadona is in the middle of a public relations disaster after its ‘Compy’ own label dog food brand was linked to the deaths of several pets across Spain, after having caused kidney failure in the animals. . The deaths were initially recorded by pet owners in Andalucia, Murcia and Alicante, but new reports have claimed that similar cases have been found along the Costa del Sol. Several pet owners insisted that the deaths were caused after their pets ate the own label product, and following intense pressure, Mercadona has removed two variants of the ‘Compy’ range from select stores. The chain said it is now studying whether there indeed is a connection between the product and the deaths. It would not comment on whether the problem was caused by a recent shift in packaging of the product from tins to cartons. Mercadona added: “At this stage we have only removed the product as a precaution and we are waiting for the results of the analysis. We do not know with any certainty if the food is to blame”.

Prison and no bail for Moroccan man who planned to poison tourist complexes in Spain

37 year old Moroccan man who was arrested in La Línea de la Concepción because of alleged links to Al Qaeda has been ordered to prison without bail. Police now believe that Abdellatif Aoulad Chilba, who is married to a Spanish woman, was planning to poison the water in tourist complexes in the area. It has been revealed that a phone call he made to his wife, who lives in Girona, on the 12th of this month, sounded as if it was a goodbye. National Court judge, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has charged him with belonging to a terrorist organisation and for conspiracy to carry out a terrorist act. The Moroccan had expressed his wish to carry out such an attack against the ‘infidels’ in several internet forums which were also being used to recruit new members for different Islamic cells. It was on one such forum that he asked for the formula for a mortal venom. One person responded with how to produce a botulism toxin.

Spain and Morocco to establish joint police stations in Tangiers and Algeciras

 

Spain and Morocco have agreed to open joint commissioners’ offices in Tangiers and Algeciras from May. The interior ministers from both countries gave the announcement on Tuesday in Rabat. Jorge Fernández Díaz and his Moroccan counterpart, Mohand Lanser, did little detail about the composition of these ‘centres of police cooperation’. Morocco is the first country outside the EU with which Spain has come to such an arrangement. There are already similar offices established with France and Portugal. The talks between the interior ministers today centred on illegal immigration, organised crime and drug trafficking. Fernández Díaz underlined the ‘support’ of the Spanish Government for the process of ‘political and democratic reforms which are being brought in by King Mohamed VI’ in Morocco, and described them as ‘an example for the Arab world and many other countries’.

Four members of 'Anonymous' arrested in Spain

 

National Police has arrested four members of the Anonymous collective in Spain as part of an international operation against cyber-crime. Two of them are currently in prison thought to be behind DDos attacks, and the other two have been released. They are allegedly linked to attacks on the UPyD webpage, as well as for revealing personal data from the GEOS security personnel. A man known as ‘Thunder’ or ‘Pacotron’ was F.J.B.D. arrested in Málaga, J.M.L.G. known as ‘Troy’ was arrested in Madrid, J.I.P.S was also arrested in Madrid with a 16 year old close collaborator, J.M.L.G. thought to be part of the international hacking group known as ‘Sector 404’. 25 computers have been impounded along with hard discs and other storage devices, following four searches in Spain and these are now being analysed. The case has resulted in two servers being blocked in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and has developed with the help of Interpol.

Search for a lorry driver after man and his niece are found dead in Zafra

The Guardia Civil are searching for a lorry driver following a double homicide in Zafra, which they consider was the settling of scores. The family of the man shot dead, a businessman Manuel Borallo, along with his niece, Verónica Gordillo, say that the crime could have been committed by a lorry driver from Algeciras whose whereabouts are now unknown. It’s thought however that he could have been in Zafra when the crime was committed in an industrial estate on Monday. The dead businessman had denounced the lorry driver to the Guardia Civil previously for using his company’s name without permission and also for using lorries with no ITV test or insurance. It seems the lorry driver had travelled to Zafra on Monday to ask for explanations. The only thing the family know is they were talking by phone with the niece, Veronica, when some bangs were heard and the line went dead. They say the last thing she said was she had to go because the man had come to see the papers. An autopsy is being carried out on the two bodies in the Anatomic Forensic Institute in Badajoz.

Son-in-law of King Juan Carlos of Spain admits he defied orders in corruption trial

 

The Duke of Palma, the husband of the King's youngest daughter Cristina, appeared in court in Majorca over the weekend, subpoenaed to give evidence in a case that has turned the spotlight on Spain's royal family. The Duke, a former Olympic handball medallist who received the title when he married in 1997, has stirred latent antimonarchist sentiments in Spain with the suggestion that he used his royal influence to feather his own nest. The Duke, 44, is implicated in a case that alleges the embezzlement of public funds through the Noos Institute, a non-profit organisation that arranged sporting and cultural events for the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearics, and which the Duke was chairman of between 2002 to 2006. Prosecutors believe up to 5.8 million euros could have misappropriated and have uncovered evidence of funds being squirrelled away to offshore accounts in Belize, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. Under intense questioning the Duke conceded the King had ordered him to stand down as chairman of the Noos Institute in 2006, shortly after questions were raised over a 1.2 million euro (£1m) contract from the Balearic government.

Protesters jeer Spanish king's son-in-law as he walks into court

King Juan Carlos of Spain experienced the public humiliation of seeing his son-in-law jeered at by egg-throwing protesters, as he entered a courthouse to be questioned on allegations of sleaze and tax fraud on Saturday. An angry crowd of demonstrators greeted Iñaki Urdangarín, the disgraced former golden boy of an otherwise popular royal family, as he walked into the courthouse in Palma, Majorca. At a hearing that was set to continue today, Urdangarín was questioned by prosecutors, investigating magistrate José Castro and some of the dozens of lawyers involved in one of Spain's longest running corruption scandals. "I appear today to demonstrate my innocence and my honour," said the former Olympic handball player, who also holds the title of Duke of Palma. "I have discharged my duties and taken decisions properly and transparently." That is not what the constant flow of leaks from the investigation into the king's son-in-law's business dealings indicates. These point to a remarkable and rapid accumulation of millions of euros via non-profit organisations and charities, with funds sent to tax havens such as Belize. Those allegations have enraged many Spaniards, including a woman who hurled two eggs at Urdangarín's car. "It felt good," she told El País newspaper. "Juan Carlos, if you knew, why did you keep quiet?" read one sign held up by protesters. Any hopes the Spanish royal family might have had that Urdangarín's dirty laundry could be washed in private at the hearing behind closed doors were immediately dashed as some of those present appeared to be messaging journalists about what was happening. Among the questions Urdangarín was asked was whether the king had told him to stand down as chairman of a non-profit foundation which, according to leaks from the police investigation, was used to channel money into private bank accounts. He reportedly confirmed that the king had made the request in 2006, soon after opposition politicians on the Balearic Islands queried a €1.2m (£1m) payment. The corruption investigation is centred on the regional governments of the Balearic Islands and Valencia, both run by prime minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative People's party, who allegedly used the foundation to pay Udangarín bloated fees for organising and appearing at sports-related events. The sight of the king's son-in-law apparently cashing in on his royal connections has been shocking enough for Spaniards, but the idea that he also allegedly defrauded the exchequer and illegally pocketed public funds has dealt an even greater blow to the monarchy as ordinary Spaniards struggle with 23% unemployment, harsh austerity measures and the prospect of falling back into recession. Juan Carlos has made his anger clear. In an obvious reference to the case, the king said in his traditional Christmas speech that "all are equal before the law". He said: "When untoward conduct arises which is not in keeping with the law and ethics, society naturally reacts. Fortunately we live by the rule of law and any unworthy act must be judged and penalised." Urdangarín was given the title of Duke of Palma after marrying Juan Carlos's daughter Princess Cristina. The king sidelined him from official events shortly before he was named as a formal suspect at the end of 2011. The king then disclosed limited details of his family's income in an attempt to show greater transparency. Urdangarín moved with his wife and four children in 2009 to Washington, DC, where he serves on the board of a subsidiary of the Spanish telecoms group Telefónica. The company refused to comment on rumours that it hired him as a favour to the king and in order to get him out of Spain. Prosecution lawyers said they would be asking the judge to take his passport away this weekend, preventing him from returning to the United States.

ENVELOPES full of cash, drug habits funded by EU grants and police taking payments to legalise prostitutes – you name it, it has happened in Spain.

 

 Add to those a snail-paced justice system and, a law society in Malaga that fails to scrutinize bent lawyers, and things start to look distinctly cloudy. Consider too that last week Spain’s top anti-corruption lawyer, Baltasar Garzon, was suspended from his post for illegally tapping the phones of lawyers, and most will come to the same conclusion. “Yes, corruption is certainly endemic in Spain,” says Gwilym Rhys-Jones, an Estepona-based financial expert. “Sadly there is a tradition of it and it became institutionalised since the late 1980s as nobody was dealing with it from the top down.” There is certainly nowhere better to highlight the problem than here on the Costa del Sol, where in Marbella for over two decades you could only get anything done if you were prepared to pay for it. Under the current Malaya corruption trial, centred around Marbella Town Hall, which has been going for over a year. Over a hundred councillors, mayors, businessmen and civil servants are currently on trial for taking backhanders totalling up to 2.4 billion euros. And sadly, the same state of affairs was taking place at hundreds of town halls around the country, with a central government apparently prepared to turn a blind eye. It led to hotels and golf courses being built in national parks, developments installed in river flood plains and hundreds of thousands of illegal – and unsellable – homes around the country. It comes as no surprise then that Transparency International has listed Spain as more corrupt than Uruguay, Chile and Qatar, and almost on a par with of Botswana – quite a feat for the fourth richest nation in the European Union. And while some might like to point the finger at the right or the left, the range of cases shows that bending the rules for personal gain goes right across the spectrum. The Conservative PP party has often been in the spotlight – most recently thanks to the Gurtel case, in Valencia – but the PSOE socialist party, particularly with the ERE pension scandal in Andalucia, certainly takes some beating. Even the royal family may have dipped its toes in the murky waters, with King Juan Carlos’ son-in-law about to stand trial for a misuse of public funds and embezzlement. So where did it all begin? Franco regarded it as the ‘necessary lubrication for the system’, according to historian Stanley Payne. While central government appears to be largely free of endemic corruption, in the regions it is quite a different story. In Andalucia, for example, UGT trade union leader Manuel Pastrana believes as many as 75 per cent of the region’s town halls are corrupt. This is partly down to the fact that much of Spain’s corruption is linked to illegal planning, which is said to be more profitable than drug dealing – mainly because tourism is the biggest earner on the Costa del Sol. It’s a simple tale, and sadly all too common. Developers purchase non-urban, rural land for knock-down prices, then pay corrupt town hall mayors to reclassify the land as available to develop. This leaves the developers to build whatever they like – and it is arrangements like this that explain the illegal 411-bedroom Algarrobico hotel in Almeria’s Cabo de Gata natural park – which will thankfully be demolished any day now. The question is, why are so many mayors and councillors tempted to the dark side, considering the possible environmental and criminal consequences? Aside from describing Spain as having the ‘slowest justice system in the known world’, investigator Rhys-Jones argues that it is human nature to be tempted by money once it’s dangled in front of you. “When people see a massive amount of money, they can’t help but steal it. It’s human nature,” he says, using the unscrupulous former Marbella mayor Jesus Gil as his example. Jesus Gil was described as the bad apple that spoilt Marbella’s bunch “Gil was a crook, but he started out with good intentions. Marbella was a mess in the 1980s. Property wasn’t selling. It was a dump filled with drugs and hookers. So Gil started a political party, the GAL, to try and sort it out.” But this apparent do-gooder turned resident evil, with many describing Gil – who was convicted in 2002 – as being the bad apple that spoiled Marbella’s bunch. Either way his legacy was a disaster and has led to the following three mayors – as well as his main cohort, planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, who became the svengali of the operation – all facing prison. Much of the corruption comes down to backgrounds and a lack of education, believes Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores. “A lot of mayors have previously had rural-based jobs, without the ability to make any money,” he explains. “The moment they have responsibility, the temptation to make money becomes too great. After four years in power, they’ll often have to go back to their tractors,” he says. A classic example of a rags-to-riches mayor is Julian Munoz, also heavily implicated in the Malaya case, who worked as a waiter before running Marbella Town Hall in 2002. Roca, too, had been on the dole before going on to pilfer 30 million euros. Planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, the main man in the Malaya case Flores compares town hall councillors with more prominent politicians in central government who are less reliant on get-rich-quick methods: “It’s not so difficult to get another job when you’re in a higher political position,” he says. The good news is that most commentators agree that corruption in Spain is on its way out. “The Malaya case was where the mentality changed,” estimates Flores. “It was a turning point for corruption and the Marbella run by thugs completely collapsed when they were all arrested. “As Spain becomes more civilised, we are slowly getting rid of corruption,” he continues. “But it has definitely not gone completely,” argues Rhys Jones. “That will take quite a few more decades.” As for shamed Judge Garzon, opinion remains firmly divided on whether he too was a man who let power corrupt him… or whether he has been silenced by a country whose corruption will be harder to iron out than some may hope. Big cases Malaya Planning chief Juan Antonio Roca is at the heart of this 2.4 billion euro scandal in Marbella. The unelected Roca operated a cash-for-permissions scheme, which saw over 18,000 homes built illegally. Gurtel Businessman Francisco Correa gave money to PP bosses in Valencia in return for lucrative contracts with the regional government. ERE The Junta is being investigated in a 647m euro retirement scandal, where posts were created in non-existent companies in order to defraud public funds. Ballena Blanca One of the largest money laundering cases in Europe, with 21 people accused of investing proceeds from drug trafficking and prostitution in property via over a thousand companies.

EU clampdown on unregulated financial advisers in Spain

 

The European Commission is to consider setting up an ombudsman to help expat victims reclaim against unregistered financial firms. It comes after a local pressure group, that represents over 1,000 victims, sent a dossier of information to Brussels. The Costa del Sol Action Group demanded action against the advisers who, it claims, have lost their clients over €120 million (£102 million). “It is good news as something has to be done about this bunch of rogues,” said group founder David Klein. “The current Spanish regulatory system is totally inadequate and ineffective. Dealing with the authorities is a constant game of ping-pong. Anyone can come to Spain and be a financial adviser; they could have been selling fish before they came here for all anyone knows." This situation could soon be coming to an end, after the European Commission confirmed it was to begin "a preliminary investigation of the problem". Foreign Office plans evacuation of expats 18 Dec 2011 It has asked for more information and the action group has called on all victims to write to the European Parliament outlining their experience. “This problem is causing untold stress and heartache in the expatriate community and it cannot be allowed to continue,” explained Klein. The European Commission is to study how investors would be able to make an official complaint against Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs). At present, there is no effective means for victims to make a complaint against product providers who work with unregistered IFAs. The group was also highly critical of the local media for its willingness to accept adverts from unregulated financial firms in a bid to maximise advertising revenue. To highlight the problem, the group included testimonials by members who were allegedly defrauded by one specialist investment brokerage, which it claims is "not regulated or registered". It said the company was able to trade, "collecting unsuspecting clients who are soon relieved of their money". One Costa del Sol-based financial adviser, Richard Alexander, said he was pleased with the EU’s response. “Bring on the review,” he said. “I have seen too many sad stories of people being turned over, badly advised or grossly over-charged by unregulated independent financial advisors in Spain. "It is entirely possible to provide professional, quality advice without the client losing out.”

Juan Antonio Roca has face to face showdown in court with Marisol Yagüe

A face to face declaration in the Malaya case in Málaga on Wednesday brought sparks between the ex Marbella Town Hall real estate assessor, Juan Antonio Roca, and the ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe. Roca said to Yagüe – ‘Darling, I deeply lament disagreeing, but I did give you money’. To that Yagüe said ‘You are looking for a way out of jail’. The conversation between the two came after she denied to the prosecutor that she had received envelopes, in the form of backhanders, from Roca. Judge José Godino then ordered a face to face ‘careo’ between the two which lasted just over a minute. ‘When did I ask you for money, Juan Antonio?’ she spat ‘I paid you always on the orders of Jesús Gil’, he replied, adding that the payment was for ‘maintaining cohesion’ in the three way government of which she was Mayor. The payments to Yagüe and the rest of the councillors took place between January 2004 and 2006, according to Roca’s own notes, which he has collaborated repeatedly in court. He says the ex Mayor received 1.8 million €. Yagüe told the court that Roca knows she loves him a lot, and that she wants him to get out of jail, ‘but it is not as he says’, she said, looking directly into his eye and grabbing his forearm. She also denied that he had supplied funds for the purchase of a luxury flat in Madrid in the Argüelles district. She faces 20 years in prison and a 3.8 million € fine in the case on charge of bribery, perversion of the course of justice, fraud and the misuse of public funds. The questioning continues on March 5.

Libyan land being freed for development in Marbella

 

A large real estate project which the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank wanted to place in Marbella is back on the road. The project was frozen because of the death of Muamar El Gaddafi, but now the lawyers for the development say it is active again. The lawyer Ignacio Pérez de Vargas said the plans are for 1,915 homes, a golf course and a congress hall to be built in La Resinera, the finca owned by the Libyan in Benahavís which stretches to 6,900 hectares across the municipalities of Benahavis, Estepona, Pujerra and Júzcar. Part of this is in the Sierra de las Nieves, declared a Biosphere Reserve, but the PGOU urban plans shows 500 hectares which can be built on in Benahavís. Construction could start as early as December. The Spanish Government blocked all the assets owned by the Libyan Government in Spain, or related to Gadaffi, when the fighting started in Libya. There is another plot in Nerja also owned, as nearly all the Libyan assets, by the Libyan Foreign Bank. Now the politicians and ambassadors of the two countries have been talking, and the Libyan Ambassador commented ‘Soon we will know what is going to happen to our properties in Spain. We have asked for meetings to find out what we can do with them. Now we will try to complete the arrangements so the projects we initially had in mind can go ahead.

Ex Marbella Mayor, Isabel García Marcos, found guilty of corruption

 

The ex Mayor of Marbella, Isabel García Marcos, has been handed down her first conviction for real estate corruption. Penal Court 10 in Málaga fined her 3,600 € and banned her from holding public office for ten years. Three other ex councillors were given the same sentence, José Jaén and Carmen Revilla among them, and another 11 ex-councillors were given a year’s prison sentence and a ten year ban. These include Julián Muñoz, Rafael González and Marisa Alcalá. José Luis Fernández Garrosa, Alberto García Muñoz and Pedro Reñones were all given nine month prison sentences and a nine month ban from office. The case relates to April 2002 and a licence for the construction of 20 luxury villas on a plot of land in Trapiche.

EastEnders' Jamie Foreman: "I went on the run with my gangster dad and didn't see my dream girl for 20 years"

Julie Dennis, 17, was one of London’s top models. My jaw dropped. In that moment I knew I was looking at the woman I had to be with.

I’ll never forget our first date. Julie wore a sky-blue parachute-silk jumpsuit. It had zips everywhere, including a long one down the front. I spent the whole bloody night trying desperately not to get caught staring at her wonderful cleavage. I still tremble at the memory.

We fell in love. But after a few blissful months together I vanished from her life. And I wouldn’t meet Julie again for another 20 years.

Dad was putting something big together. I could feel it. He’d met up with old mate, Dukey, an armed robber who’d looked after the Kray’s arsenal.

But times had changed – there was big money to be had dealing marijuana. People couldn’t get enough of the stuff. Everyone I knew liked a puff and there was some amazing gear around in the 70s, the best from Afghanistan.

I was staggered to discover Dad and Dukey had arranged to smuggle in a ton and a half of Afghanistan Black – two million quid’s worth, or £20million in today’s money.

It was audacious and scary and there was a problem. A source informed Dad that Customs had been sniffing around a major drugs smuggling operation for months.

It was too late to pull out – the package was already in transit.

Dad must have been feeling the heat because, suddenly, my services were no longer required. He was protecting me.

And, on the day, everything went dreadfully, tragically wrong.

Flashback: How the Mirror reported the hunt for DukeyDaily Mirror 

Customs officers tracked the drug lorry to an East End depot and the driver Scatty Eddie tried to give them the slip, while Dad and Dukey escaped.

Dad watched the TV news later and was horrified. In a moment of total madness Eddie pulled out a pistol and shot the poor Customs guy. An innocent family man had been killed for doing his job.

Dad had insisted no guns should be involved. Now Eddie’s actions had implicated him in something very heavy.

The police were scouring London for my dad and, as I was his driver, for me too.

Dad needed to go underground but both of us going AWOL would have made me look guilty. I had to carry on as normal while Dad went into hiding. But two days later I was woken by Customs and Flying Squad officers pointing guns at my head.

They took me to search Dad’s empty office building but, of course, found nothing. When the s*** hit the fan the firm rallied round and made sure he was safe.

With a murder charge looming over Dad and Duke they had to get out of the country. But Dukey couldn’t face going on the run and he took his own life. Dad fled to Tenerife. Mum and my younger sister Danielle discreetly followed soon after.

But should I stay or should I go?

Dark past: Jamie went on the run 

I was falling deeply in love with Julie and my career was about to really take off.

Then I heard the police planned to arrest me to try to flush out Dad.

I was a wanted man. It was time to go on the run. The chaps arranged for me to join the family – but I couldn’t say goodbye to Julie.

Hiding in a foreign country is one of the most boring things in the world. Granted, lounging about on a beach is better than being banged up, but psychologically you’re still somewhere you don’t want to be. It turns into a prison sentence.

After six months Dad got word it was time to move on – the police thought they knew our location. I was to join him in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Going on my toes to America was exciting. I fantasised about acting there. It was great spending so much time alone with Dad – a wonderful chance to get to know each other.

But we needed to start over. By the time I arrived, Dad had already made allies in the Mafia family in Allentown.

We were given a licence to open a games room. It was a rough area and people thought they could take the p***. The Foreman reputation had to be established.

At first I was chinning one of them every day. But, lo and behold, we soon began to get the respect we deserved. We were making a fortune but hanging around our low-life customers my life was slowly unravelling.

Soon the cracks began to show and my frustration turned to terrible anger. I was a bomb waiting to go off – and then I exploded. I put a gun to an innocent man’s head and almost pulled the trigger. I was shaken to the core.

Dad was wonderful. “It’s time for you to go home, son,” he told me.

Getting back to London was like being shot with a wonderful, calming drug and getting back into acting was the icing on the cake.

Years later my sister’s friend mentioned she worked with a Julie Dennis – the girl who had slipped the net.

I got her number and invited her for dinner. That night I fell in love with her all over again. Julie and I have been together ever since. She’s the love of my life.

Father of holiday death Scot takes fight for justice to Brussels

 

The father of a man who died in a mysterious assault while on holiday in Spain is taking his campaign for justice to the European Parliament. Chris Lindsay, 34, died after a night out in Calahonda, on the Costa del Sol, with work colleagues last summer. He was found lying unconscious in the street, without his passport or money, and rushed to hospital in Malaga, but succumbed to his injuries five days later. Chris had been out with a meal with a group of friends and went on to a bar with a senior colleague, but the pair became separated before the end of the night. Four months on his family say they are no closer to learning what happened to the marketing officer and father of three. Chris's father Harry, 63, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, said he was determined to get answers from the Spanish authorities so he could tell his grandchildren what happened to their father. He told STV News: "The oldest boy Ryan is 10, so I speak to Ryan and as you can imagine the boy is missing his dad. "We want answers. We have got to have answers because I've got to tell his sons at a later stage and obviously for ourselves as well. "I want to know the police reports and I want to know the post mortem reports. That's all we are asking for. If anything untowards has happened, if Chris has been murdered, then that's up to the authorities to take that up, but I want to know exactly what happened to my son." Mr Lindsay is travelling to Brussels in two weeks time hoping politicians at the European Parliament can help him speed up the justice process. "I'm not going to rest until I actually find out." he said. "It doesn't make things any easier, but certainly you can turn round and say, well, I did everything I could for you Chris: I can't do any more."

Hospitalised, robbed, arrested – new TV series follows consular staff as they help Brits in distress

 

How the staff of British Consulates in Spain help citizens in distress is to be highlighted in a new TV documentary series to be broadcast next month on the UK’s Channel 4.UK in Spain The new TV series, filmed last summer, reveals how consular staff come to the rescue of Britons who find themselves in trouble. From helping victims of crime to advising Brits arrested by the police, the series also follows consular staff as they visit holidaymakers who end up in hospital and meet expat residents to hear their property concerns. In a three part series, ‘Our Man In…’, provides unprecedented access to the work of British consular staff. It will be shown on the UK’s Channel 4 on Thursdays 1st, 8th and 15th March at 22.00 GMT (23.00 CET). The first programme features Mallorca and Ibiza, the second follows the team in Alicante and the third covers Tenerife and Barcelona. “The series shows the hard work and professionalism of our staff in helping British expats and holidaymakers as well as highlighting the serious issues that Brits can face abroad”, says Paul Rodwell, British Consul in Alicante. “Some of the less serious cases can be avoided and I would encourage people to read our travel advice and have a look at the information we have on our ukinspain website.” The series reveals the consequences of failing to prepare properly for a holiday. Even if you’re staying with friends and family, travelling without insurance could cost you many thousands of pounds if you’re injured abroad. “Losing your passport will cost you time and money”, says Paul Rodwell. “And without an EHIC health card, you’ll find it harder to get medical care. By taking a few simple precautions, you can avoid a dream holiday turning into a nightmare.” The programme in Alicante, about life on the costas, shows the pro-active face of the consulate, with staff seeking out Brits caught up in a forest fire, organising outreach events to hear residents’ property concerns, and working with local police to manage an invasion of Scottish football fans for a big game against Spain. On the party island of Ibiza, consular staff tackle the fall-out from a new drug on club scene - the so-called 'pink pill'. A young tourist is found lost, nearly naked, and unable to recall anything but his name. Then the Brit dealers who supply the pills also need help after they're arrested. In Mallorca, staff deal with a young Brit who's been tasered by overzealous police. A holidaymaker from Essex has been run over by a drunk driver, and lies seriously injured in hospital. And a Lancashire couple's holiday is transformed by the arrival, nine weeks early, of their tiny baby son. In Barcelona and Tenerife, crime has its effects on visitors and on the workload of the Consulates. Street robberies and stolen passports lead to inconvenience, distress and unexpected costs for holidaymakers. Meanwhile consular staff are also busy helping some of the people who need it most – expat prisoners & homeless Brits who simply want to go home. ‘Our Man In…’ was filmed mainly in August and September last year and is produced by Screenchannel Television, a London-based independent production company. The executive producers are Emma Barker, a former commissioning editor and controller at ITV, and Peter Lowe, a former executive producer and programme editor at BBC Television and controller at Carlton Television.