British man, 45 year old Thomas William Swannell, who is accused of killing another Briton, 42 year old Gary Clive Vigors, by slitting his neck with a broken bottle

British man, 45 year old Thomas William Swannell, who is accused of killing another Briton, 42 year old Gary Clive Vigors, by slitting his neck with a broken bottle during a bar fight in Magaluf, Mallorca, appeared in court in Palma on Monday.

He faces charges of intentional homicide following the attack in the early hours of Saturday in the Plaza Café in Punta Ballena. The court heard how a cut to the jugular saw the victim bleed out and die just moments later before medics could arrive at the scene.

After making a first declaration the accused was ordered to be held on remand in Palma jail.

20 month prison sentence for a British man who was arrested at the frontier in Irun found to be carrying four ‘Tito Pigmeo’ monkeys, an endangered species.

The prosecutor in Guipuzcoa is calling for a 20 month prison sentence for a British man who was arrested at the frontier in Irun found to be carrying four ‘Tito Pigmeo’ monkeys, an endangered species.

The Environmental Prosecutor considers that the accused has committed a crime against wild flora and fauna.

The man, named as Stephen J.R. was arrested on March 5 2010 after being stopped by the Ertzaintza regional police for irregular driving on a local motorway. There were two men in the car, and on the back seat, hidden under some clothes, were the three small plastic cages containing the monkeys. The two men were unable to produce documentation for the animals, but claimed they had an animal recovery centre at Huéscar, Granada and they were heading to Britain for the animals to breed.

The monkeys were taken to the Arrano Etxea animal centre, where vets said that two of the primates were in very poor health.

It is now known the men had an endangered species centre in Motril, Granada, which had been closed down, and had been stopped by French police when trying to board the ferry. They were fined 1,000 € and allowed to go, and were therefore heading back to Spain when they were stopped again.

Five members of Spain’s most wanted gang of bank robbers, accused of some 50 robberies, have been arrested

Five members of Spain’s most wanted gang of bank robbers, accused of some 50 robberies, have been arrested in the north of Spain, including the man who is believed to be responsible for the shooting dead of a bank clerk in Cambrils, Tarragona, in Cataluña, last October.

The gang, which is described as extremely dangerous, ceased its activities after the fatal shooting, for fear of being captured.

The arrests were made in the early hours of Tuesday in the Basque Country, where the gang was based, and in Cantabria. It’s understood that another two suspects who are already in prison for other crimes have also been identified as members of the group. Another member has yet to be captured.

The police operation which led to their arrest followed months of investigation by a joint taskforce set up by the Catalan regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, their colleagues in the Basque Country, the Ertzaintza, and the National Police and the Civil Guard.

A total of 150 officers have been involved in the investigation.

'land grabs' by Spanish authorities are not uncommon and tens of thousands of British homeowners in Spain have already fallen foul of them.

It was meant to be a dream retirement. David Bagott bought a waterside house in the stunning Empuriabrava harbour area in the Spanish town of Cadaques in Catalonia ten years ago with the aim of eventually moving there for good.

But six months ago David was sent a letter from the Spanish authorities warning him that it intended to reclaim about 19ft of land from the water's edge at his property for public access.

It means that David will lose the private mooring for his boat, his balcony, terrace and about three metres of his living room. Not only does it make the property unsaleable in the short term, but the changes will reduce its value. Not surprisingly, David doesn't want to live there any more.

This devastating plan affects about 5,000 properties on the waterside of the beautiful town that was home to Salvador Dali for much of his life. The sum set aside by the authorities for compensation is a miserly £7million - equivalent to £1,400 for each affected property.

These 'land grabs' by Spanish authorities are not uncommon and tens of thousands of British homeowners in Spain have already fallen foul of them.
In most cases the properties have been built with inadequate planning permission - often where construction was approved by corrupt

Empuriabrava is different because its properties were built legally. The Spanish government passed the Ley de Costas - 'the law of the coast' - in 1988. This law states that six metres (19ft) of land joining the coast or beach and the sea belongs to the State and is available for public access.

But the problem for the residents of Empuriabrava is that the law states that any salt water is 'coastal'. It means the canals and private harbour of Empuriabrava also fall under the law and can be reclaimed by the government.

'This is clearly not what the law of the coast was meant to achieve,' says David, a former furniture designer who now works as a property developer.

'The six metre line cuts through villas and apartment buildings like mine that are on the water's edge. Empuriabrava was built 50 years ago with all the correct legal permits and provisions observed. The moorings for boats were also bought legally with the correct taxes paid. We all purchased in good faith. To have this happen is devastating.'

David bought his two-bedroom Spanish home for the equivalent of £200,000 from the developers who built the private harbour and much of the property in Empuriabrava. He had planned to sell his house in Dartmouth, Devon,

this year and move to Spain permanently. Now he says he will have to stay in the UK and work longer while the uncertainty surrounds the future of Empuriabrava.

An action group, Associacio de Propiertaris D'Empuriabrava (APE) has been set up by Empuriabrava's residents. It says that not only will the government's plan destroy house prices and make property impossible to sell, but it will also damage businesses and cause a loss of jobs in the area.

Peter Machin, 75, who is married to Veronica, worked in the fashion business in manufacture and later importing and has lived in Empuriabrava for six years.

He says: 'To have a waterside villa with a private mooring and access to the sea is the dream of most boating enthusiasts. We came from the UK and other European countries and paid a premium for the privilege. To have this happen now is devastating.'

Former London taxi company owner Pat Jennings, 70, who is separated and lives in Switzerland, has a holiday home in Empuriabrava.

He says: 'We have not acted illegally. We purchased in good faith and paid

taxes. The consequence of this law is that property prices are being destroyed as people will not buy and owners cannot sell.'

APE has employed lawyers to fight the case and it is preparing to go to the EC courts. But David and others will have to fund the legal case, the cost of which could run into hundreds of thousands of euros.

David and other residents do not know how long the case will take to be heard and in the meantime they are unable to sell. 'I'm in limbo until this is sorted out,' says David. 'It's a nightmare. I won't be able to sell but I'm not sure I will want the property after all the development has destroyed it. I just hope the legal system will see sense and stop this.'

A man on a tour of Majorca with Finedon Dolben Cricket Club is being questioned on suspicion of murder after a bar room brawl.

Police in the holiday resort of Magaluf arrested a 44-year-old county man after the attack in the early hours of Saturday.

The man has been named in Spain as Thomas Swannell, of Northampton.

He has been arrested on suspicion of attacking Gary Vigors, of Chelmsford, Essex, with a broken beer bottle at the Plaza Cafe in Magaluf at about 2.30am on Saturday.

Swannell was part of a group of about 40 travelling fans of Finedon Dolben, the reigning Northants Cricket League champions, who were due to play a tour match against the local Majorca team over the weekend.

The game was cancelled.

The dead man was not involved with the tour or connected with the club.

The Plaza Bar’s resident singer Charly Hamblyn said: “I’ve never seen anything so horrific.

“I was in total shock – you never expect someone to die in front of your eyes.”

Witnesses say Swannell and Mr Vigors had a confrontation earlier in the evening at a bar on Magaluf’s famous Punta Balena strip, but friends managed to separate them.

The pair met again at the Plaza Bar, where Mr Vigors died.

Friends of the injured man tried to resuscitate him until an ambulance arrived 25 minutes later but he was dead by the time they transferred him to hospital

contract killer shot dead a young father in front of his two young children before moving to Spain to start a new life under an assumed identity, a court heard today.

A contract killer shot dead a young father in front of his two young children before moving to Spain to start a new life under an assumed identity, a court heard today.

Hitman James Tomkins, 61, blasted 24-year-old Rocky Dawson in the back with a handgun as the victim helped his son and daughter in to his car on the driveway of his parents' home.

Tomkins fired the shots from the passenger seat of a Land Rover Freelander in a 'deliberate, calculated and cold-blooded' drive-by shooting on May 2, 2006, Woolwich Crown Court heard.


Shot dead: Young father Rocky Dawson was allegedly gunned down in front of his children by James Tomkins, right, who is accused of murder

He then fled the country and spent four years living under a false name in Europe.

When police tracked him down in Spain last year he had with him a fake Irish passport in the name of Michael Lynch.

Tomkins' arrest and subsequent extradition back to the UK followed an 'extensive police inquiry and major manhunt including an appeal on the television programme Crimewatch', jurors were told.

Despite the lengthy investigation police are still unable to establish why Mr Dawson was targeted.

There was no evidence he had been involved in a dispute with Tomkins or the driver of the Freelander Christopher Pearman.

Mr Dawson had some 'trivial' involvement in crime but had no connection to the criminal underworld.

Prosecutor David Hislop QC said 'there remains a terrible possibility that Rocky Dawson's killers had mistaken him for someone else.

'You may think this murder has all the hallmarks of a contract killing, an assassination or execution,' he said.

'It was clearly very carefully planned in advance. The Freelander had recently been stolen and was fitted with false number plates. It had been cleaned of fingerprints before they embarked on the killing.

'Tomkins and Pearman plainly knew where Rocky Dawson's parents lived and he was a regular visitor to that address.

'The two men were sufficiently confident to shoot him as he tended to his children, no doubt thinking their victim's attention would be on his children rather than passing cars.

'They carefully selected a place where the Freelander would be abandoned, providing a route for them down an alleyway and away from the scene and they also clearly brought with them accelerant, petrol and white spirit, with which to destroy the vehicle.' 

Jurors heard Mr Dawson was shot in the back 'without warning' shortly before 9pm as he put the children, aged two and six, in to his Fiat Punto.

The family were about to make the short journey back to his home.

Witnesses heard two or three shots ring out - at least one shattered the back window of the Punto and another fatally wounded Mr Dawson.

Mr Hislop said: 'Horrifically, you may think, Mr Dawson was shot in front of those two young children.' 

The Freelander then pulled away 'quite calmly and slowly'. It was abandoned in Mellish Way, Hornchurch, where it was torched.

The court heard Pearman, of Waltham Abbey, Essex, was 54 at the time of the shooting. He was arrested on May 5 2006 and later pleaded guilty to his involvement in the murder.

He had an interest in a car wash business next to the Golden Lion pub in Borders Lane, Loughton, where he and Tomkins were both regulars.

Tomkins, who spent time at the Waltham Abbey address and at a girlfriend's home in south west London, was extradited from Spain on a European Arrest Warrant on September 15 last year.

He denies murder and the trial continues.

MILLIONS OF euros pocketed in an alleged property scam on the Costa Blanca have been recovered by police after being stashed in Andorra bank accounts.

MILLIONS OF euros pocketed in an alleged property scam on the Costa Blanca have been recovered by police after being stashed in Andorra bank accounts.
In an international operation, officers of the Guardia Civil have repatriated more than 2.4 million euros from the Principality – said to be part of an estimated 90 million euro fortune earned in a corruption scandal centred on the Marina Alta village of Lliber.

The fraud is said to centre on the construction and sale of 300 illegal homes – purchased in good faith by expats for between 250,000€ and 665,000€ between 1999 and 2003.

And investigations by detectives under Operation Ruins have centred on Lliber Town Hall and former mayor Jose Mas Avella and technical architect Amador Signes.
At present 18 people – including the mayor and the civil servant – as well as lawyers, promoters, and builders, one of them British expat Trevor Bourne, are under investigation by a judge in a Denia courtroom. It is expected a full criminal trial will follow.

LAWYER
The judge has also ordered a Javea lawyer to appear for questioning about his alleged involvement in the fraud. It could mean the number in the dock climbs to 19.
The Denia court also called for police to trace the proceeds of the fraud and officers discovered the Andorra accounts said to be in the name of the technical architect and his wife.

Adrian Hobbs, president of action group AULN – Abusos Urbanisticos Lliber No! which is fighting to have the houses legalised – said it was clear there had been a sophisticated plot to deceive victims.
“We are very pleased this money has actually been recovered and it clearly shows that money changed hands between the arrested parties,” he said.
“This will only serve to strengthen our case when it eventually comes to court - 300 home owners have effectively been conned in a sophisticated scam which started within the walls of the town hall.”
He said homeowners had suffered years of frustration and were still without water, electricity, and the necessary paperwork to make their homes legal.

Moroccan official has been offered bribe to backdate birth certificate of the Morocco-born erotic dancer at the heart of the teenage sex scandal engulfing the embattled Italian Premier.

Fresh trouble is brewing for Silvio Berlusconi, with reports emerging that a Moroccan official has been offered bribe to backdate birth certificate of the Morocco-born erotic dancer at the heart of the teenage sex scandal engulfing the embattled Italian Premier.

According to Italian newspaper 'Il Fatto Quotidiano', the Moroccan registry official was promised "a large amount of money" to change the birth date of Karima El Mahroug known as Ruby the Heart Stealer.

The unidentified Moroccan woman official told the newspaper that she was approached on February 7 by three men -- two Italians and a Moroccan -- in her office in the town of Fkih Ben Salah in central Morocco, where El Mahroug was born; they asked her if she could backdate the nightclub dancer's birth certificate by two years, 'The Daily Telegraph' said.
The Italian newspaper also printed on its front page a photograph of what it said was El Mahroug's birth certificate, on which her date of birth is recorded as November 1, 1992 -- which means she was 17 when she allegedly had sex with the PM at his mansion in Milan between February and May last year.

Berlusconi will face trial on April 6 for allegedly paying for sex with El Mahroug when she was 17 and allegedly working as a prostitute. Having sex with a underage prostitute is a crime in Italy carrying a penalty of three years in jail.

But if the Prime Minister's lawyers could prove that the teenager was above 18, then the underage prostitution allegation would be dismissed.

Lawyers for Berlusconi, however, said the claims were "laughable", but the opposition parties have demanded that an urgent investigation be launched into the allegations.

‘Butcher of Elche’, Mario García Fernández, has accepted a sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Mari Paz Moreno.

The man who has been dubbed by the press as the ‘Butcher of Elche’, Mario García Fernández, has accepted a sentence of 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Mari Paz Moreno.

Her chopped up body was found distributed amongst four separate rubbish containers in Elche in June 2009.

The accused had faced a possible 25 years behind bars, but the prosecutor in the case proposed the lower term after he admitted his guilt at his trial by jury on Tuesday. He’s understood to have asked for forgiveness from the jury and from the victim’s family.

The victim died during an argument at the couple’s home on June 12 2009, when her killer snatched up a kitchen knife and stabbed his partner more than 30 times.

He was arrested two days later when the first body part was discovered in a local rubbish bin in the Pla district of Elche.

Pablo Ruiz-Mateos, one of the sons and directors of Nueva Rumasa, is now facing charges of fraud.

The Ruiz-Mateos family, owners of the troubled Nueva Rumasa business empire, has made public all the correspondence they have had for years with the Banco Santander, and the letters show how they admit they have been tricking investors.

One hand-written letter, sent to the bank Chairman, Emilio Botín, by José María Ruiz-Mateos reads,
‘Emilio, Please don’t let us fall, it would be horrible, and of unusual and unnecessary consequences’.

Nueva Rumasa has announced it will be now be taking legal action against Botín, whom José María Ruiz Mateos Jr, blames for the problems by cutting off credit.

The company has recently been issuing bonds paying 8% interest over a year ‘to acquire new companies’, according to the advertising, and now admit that the monies obtained was ‘perhaps not used to that end’. In one of the letters it says ‘now is not the time to invest, it is the time to collect’. It’s thought that 5,000 small investors have been tricked.

Another letter reads
‘Much of the advertising which is being broadcast in the media on investment and job creation forms part of a marketing campaign aimed at public opinion’.

On Tuesday the family applied for bankruptcy protection for two of the largest companies in the group, food companies Dhul and Clesa. The football team, Rayo Vallecano, is expected to be next on the list.

Pablo Ruiz-Mateos, one of the sons and directors of Nueva Rumasa, is now facing charges of fraud. A judge in Madrid has been investigating the sale of shares in the company partner, Gestesa, since the spring of 2009. Nueva Rumasa spoke of a 22 million € bid for the company at the time, a bid now considered to always have been fake.

Workers at Clesa on Tuesday tried to stop several directors of the company from removing documents. They stopped several directors’ cars from leaving the company’s headquarters, but they were finally allowed to leave when the police arrived.