The Sunday Post (Inverness)

Her unexplaine­d death in Spain and vow to continue their fight for justice

Five friends with different stories but no comment

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men have so far remained silent about what they know.

One of the group – Joseph Graham – was arrested on suspicion of homicide but was released after two days, while his friends were recalled to court three months later but refused to answer questions.

Footage of the private hearing, shows the men – Callum Northridge, Anthony Holehouse, Daniel Bailey and Ricky Gammon – step up to a microphone before stating: “I will only answer questions from my lawyer.”

Spanish police have ruled the tragedy as an accident, however parents Brian and Denise say their investigat­ion has been “a shambles”.

Brian said: “It’s utterly disgracefu­l. There is a systemic failure within the Spanish judicial system from the top to the bottom.

“First of all they were trying to blame Kirsty and even asked us if she was a racist, because one of the men in the apartment was black.

“Then they said ‘Maybe she was frightened of big men’.

“Every time we ask for evidence, everything went missing, was destroyed, or rejected. They destroyed Kirsty’s clothes, saying it was unhygienic to keep them because they were covered in blood.

“The Foreign Office could have done a lot more as well. If we were celebritie­s, or more high profile, they might have helped to fund an investigat­ion or at least done something. Because we’re just ordinary working people, we’ve had nothing.”

The family were able to obtain a sevenminut­e CCTV clip of Kirsty returning to her room on the night she died, but officers and the owners of the apartment complex claimed the rest of the footage had been destroyed.

Another tragic video taken by a friend who was sharing a room with Kirsty shows the 27-year-old asleep, snoring deeply, just 50 minutes before she fell to her death.

Denise said: “We just want answers. We want justice. We promised her we would never stop fighting, and we won’t.” Kirsty Maxwell’s parents have urged the five men staying in the apartment where their daughter died to break their silence. Joseph Graham, Anthony Holehouse, Ricky Gammon, Callum Northridge and Daniel Bailey, from Nottingham, were quizzed by police over the tragedy last year. Mr Graham was arrested and spent two days in jail, but was later released and has denied any involvemen­t in Kirsty’s death. The other men have also refused to comment on the incident, despite there being discrepanc­ies in their statements about what happened on the night.

Brian said: “I just want to ask them what happened. What was your part in where Kirsty was, where were you, what happened? “We have seen their statements, which all look like a ‘frequently asked questions’ document. Even then they couldn’t get it right, there are discrepanc­ies.

“We were hoping when they went back to court last July they would speak but all they have done is prolonged our agony.

“If there was one of them involved in Kirsty’s death, the rest are now complicit. In our view, they are now all complicit, every single one.”

Denise said: “If they have nothing to hide, then speak out. Clear your own name. Please just help us understand what happened.”

The group of men are understood to have been part of a larger group of 50, who were in Benidorm celebratin­g a friend’s birthday. Some were taking cocaine, drinking alcohol and using the services of a prostitute on the night Kirsty died.

It is believed that Joseph Graham, who answered the door, may have thought Kirsty was the sex worker and let her into the room.

In a statement to the police, Mr Graham told how he said “The girl has jumped”. He also stated he was not at the balcony when Kirsty fell, and only went there when he realised she was not in the corridor. However, his pal Callum Northridge stated that Mr Graham “was with the girl when he said she jumped. It was he who said she had jumped”.

Mr Northridge said he couldn’t see the balcony from where his room was in the apartment. Mr Graham has denied any involvemen­t in Kirsty’s death, with the other men saying it was a “tragic accident”.

 ?? Picture ?? Denise and Brian Curry beside a favourite picture of their lost daughter Kirsty, at home in West Lothian
Alistair Linford
Picture Denise and Brian Curry beside a favourite picture of their lost daughter Kirsty, at home in West Lothian Alistair Linford
 ??  ?? Apartament­os Payma hotel in Benidorm where Kirsty Maxwell died on April 29, 2017
Apartament­os Payma hotel in Benidorm where Kirsty Maxwell died on April 29, 2017
 ??  ?? Joseph Graham
Joseph Graham

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