Serial offender mugs man outside Dénia nightclub

A reveller is accused of mugging a stranger outside a Dénia nightclub and stealing €700 in cash from him before fleeing the area in the early hours of Saturday. National Police say the victim, a 26-year-old Moroccan, had withdrawn the money from a cashpoint just before meeting a friend at the undisclosed nightspot, and was attacked when they went outside to smoke.

His assailant, a Spaniard aged 19, beat and kicked him without apparent motive and, once he was down, grabbed the cash from his pocket and fled.

The victim, bruised and bleeding, went straight to the National Police, who caught the accused on Tuesday. It is not known whether they were able to recover any of the money. Officers say the mugger had been arrested on five previous occasions for nearidentical attacks, but had somehow remained on the loose. It is still not clear whether he was remanded in custody for the sixth violent theft this week.