Kirsty family fury as five suspects are CLEARED over Costa death plunge
THE five men investigated over the death of a newlywed Scot have been told there is no evidence to suggest they killed her.
Kirsty Maxwell, 27, died in mysterious circumstances in the Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm in 2017 while on a hen party weekend with friends.
Mrs Maxwell, from Livingston, West Lothian, plunged from a tenth-floor hotel room occupied by five Britons.
However, a Spanish judge investigating her death has ruled there is ‘no evidence’ the group of friends from Nottingham were involved in the tragedy.
Mrs Maxwell’s family believe a ‘catalogue of errors’ and missed opportunities in the probe mean they may never know the circumstances leading to her death.
The men were given the news on Tuesday by their lawyer.
They were the last people to see Mrs Maxwell alive after she walked into their tenth-floor room at Apartamentos Payma in the resort’s Little England district just before 8am on April 29, 2017.
She died after falling from the apartment balcony, less than 12 hours after arriving for the hen party. It is believed she had mistakenly entered the men’s flat.
Inside was Joseph Graham, 32, a £49,000-a-year logistics manager with Amazon, who opened the door. Also in the apartment were British champion cage fighter Ricky Gammon, 31; Anthony Holehouse, a 34-year-old convicted fraudster; Callum Northridge, 27, and Daniel Bailey, 32.
Their defence lawyer, Roberto Sanchez, said: ‘My clients have said from day one they didn’t have anything to do with Kirsty’s death. They have had a bad time of it over these last nearly two-and-ahalf years but their conscience has always been clear.
‘This decision enables them to get on with their lives.’
The men were placed under formal investigation on suspicion of homicide, although Mr Graham was the only one arrested.
They five were all allowed to return to the UK after being questioned.
Judge Ana Isabel Garcia-Galbis confirmed her ruling in a one-anda-half page statement, saying: ‘There is no evidence of the participation of the men investigated in the death of the victim.’
Mrs Maxwell’s parents, Brian and Denise Curry, and her husband Adam are expected to appeal the decision, which has left questions unanswered.
They have been given three days to lodge an appeal with the judge.
Mr Curry told the Daily Record: ‘The police investigation was farcical from the start and the sheer incompetence left us angry and frustrated. We felt we couldn’t publicly criticise because the police officers had fragile egos and it would just make them defensive. We wanted their cooperation to get to the truth.
‘There was a hope that if we were nice to them, they would help us. In the long run we now know that approach hasn’t worked and we won’t bite our tongues any more.
‘The Spanish police and judiciary have acted in a way that has been demeaning not just to us but to Kirsty. It is disgusting.
‘We have felt physically sick over the way this investigation has been handled.’
Yesterday, a statement on the online appeal page set up by Mrs Maxwell’s family said: ‘A family have lost their loved one in suspicious circumstances unresolved and unexplained due to the flawed Spanish investigation which was not conducted as would be expected for what they were dealing with as a potential homicide.
‘Destruction of Kirsty’s clothing which could have contained DNA evidence and lots of other shortcomings – all of which will be fully publicised at the appropriate time – meant irretrievable errors were made.’
David Swindle, a former detective employed by the family to review the case, said they disputed reports that the case was now, in effect, closed.
He told the BBC: ‘The case is still open and the family are determined to keep pushing for answers. There are lines of inquiry that haven’t been followed up.’
‘My clients have had a bad time’
‘Farcical from the start’