Scotsman suspect of Benidorm death released
The man was arrested on March 12, as he was about to leave for the UK, but has now been released without bail pending further investigation
A 33-YEAR-OLD man, who was being remanded in prison, over the death of a fellow Scotsman in Benidorm on March 12, has been released without bail pending further investigations.
The suspect has now been able to return to the UK but will have to report to the Spanish consulate every 15 days - or at the courthouse in Benidorm if he had stayed in Spain.
Despite opposition from the public prosecutor, defending lawyers based in Alicante requested he be released after the final post-mortem reports on the body of Jim Clark (33) did not clearly determine the cause of death, hence a direct link could not be established between the fight amongst the two men and the death of Mr Clark.
The forensic report concludes that the injuries sustained in the fight are not serious enough to have caused the death directly and complementary investigation into its cause is necessary.
With this evidence, the judge instructing the case has now accepted the defending lawyer’s petition and released the suspect pending further investigations.
Fatal stag trip
What should have been a time of celebration turned into one of horror for a group of British stags when Jim Clark, reportedly the best man, died on what was their first day here in the resort.
A fight broke out between two groups of Brits during the early hours of Saturday March 9 on Calle Gerona and that the victim apparently died as a result of a knock to the head.
CCTV footage analysed by National Police captured the altercation, which took place in the heart of the club area on Calle Gerona in the Rincon de Loix area and identified the suspect, leading to his arrest.
However, it was not clear whether it was a direct punch to the head or the impact sustained when he hit the pavement that tragically killed him – or possibly another underlying cause.
The suspect has not at any point denied hitting the deceased, who had broken away from the rest of his group, but claims that he was assaulted first after exchanging words with him.
The suspect was arrested at the airport whilst waiting to board a flight back to Scotland two days after an incident in which 33-year-old Jim Clark died in the resort.
The detainee was quietly waiting to board a flight in the departure lounge at AlicanteElche airport with his partner, not far from the stag group of the deceased who were also travelling back to Scotland but on a different flight.