Family’s outrage as violent partner of missing Lisa bailed
Lover fled murder probe after expat vanished
‘Disappointed and angered’
THE violent boyfriend of missing Scots expat Lisa Brown has been released on bail by a Spanish judge less than a year after he fled a murder probe into her disappearance.
State prosecutors agreed to the move, even though convicted criminal Simon Corner remains the prime suspect in the case.
Spanish police believe the 32year-old mother of one, originally from Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, is dead and have continued to search for her body near her home on the Costa del Sol.
Investigators confirmed that a ‘violent episode’ had taken place at the rented villa in the Andalusian town of Guadiaro, near Gibraltar, that Miss Brown shared with Liverpool-born Corner.
He left Spain days after she vanished on November 4, 2015. The 35-year-old flew to the Far East, but returned to the Costa del Sol in January last year.
Corner promised to meet investigators but instead fled to mainland Spain. After a European Arrest Warrant was issued, he was eventually found in Denmark last April and extradited back to Spain. He was held in jail on suspicion of killing Miss Brown until this month.
Corner has not been formally charged with any crime, as is normal in Spain where charges are usually laid shortly before trial.
But Spanish court sources said yesterday that Corner was granted bail on April 4 by an investigating judge.
A well-placed source said: ‘The time Corner has spent in prison on remand played a crucial part in the decision to release him on bail.’
But speaking on behalf of Miss Brown’s family, her brother, Craig Douglas, said last night: ‘We are extremely disappointed and angered by this development. Simon Corner is a dangerous man and we were given assurances that he would not be going anywhere.
‘Yet, less than 12 months down the line and he has been freed to get on with his life. Our great fear is that he may try to leave Spain again, just as he has done before. This will be devastating for my mother, who is still waiting for answers about what happened to her daughter.’
Corner, who was jailed for three months in Gibraltar in May 2014 for possession of an offensive weapon after a nightclub altercation, posted £8,365 bail, allowing him to leave prison in Algeciras where he has been held since May 13 last year.
Under his bail conditions, he must sign on twice a month at court. He also had to surrender his passport and has been banned from leaving Spain.
He is now thought to be in the San Roque area.
The court will have to decide whether to charge Corner with Miss Brown’s homicide or a lesser crime if her body is not found, or shelve its criminal investigation if it feels there is no realistic chance of prosecution.
It emerged last September that forensic specialists had concluded a violent incident involving Miss Brown and Corner took place at her property.
Sources have hinted they believe Miss Brown’s body could have been disposed of at sea.
Corner’s defence lawyer argued successfully for bail, saying that his client had been in jail for nearly a year without charge despite there being no concrete evidence.
If no body is found, prosecutors are expected to consider pressing for a charge of unlawful detention, which in Spain carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Two other unnamed Britons remanded in jail alongside Corner as part of the criminal inquiry have also been released on bail.
Corner has continued to protest his innocence, saying he has no idea where his girlfriend is.
Miss Brown’s son Marco, 11, is being looked after by his father Tony Tomillero at his home in La Linea, near Gibraltar.