Allegations by a man arrested for robbery that he and his girlfriend were beaten by local police officers

Allegations by a man arrested for robbery that he and his girlfriend were beaten by local police officers after they were taken into custody in June 2006 have been heard by a court and it looks as if a trial will now almost certainly take place after the Alicante provincial court recently turned down appeals placed by each of the nine defendants against their charges in the Torrevieja torture case.Twelve police officers, two Partido Popular councillors, and a nursing assistant at the Vega Baja district hospital are implicated, with possible charges ranging from torture, document forgery and failure to pursue a crime.A number of officers are charged in the case, as is the councillor who had responsibility for the local police force at the time, Pedro Valero, who is charged with others of attempting to cover up what allegedly happened. Sources report that he could face between one and four years in prison and the police inspector, Carlos María I.F., whose home was the target of the attempted burglary, faces up to eight years behind bars. The couple were arrested while trying to break into the home of the member of the local police force.The Guatemalan man who made the allegations of torture is due to appear in court to answer charges of attempted robbery having been arrested on 23rd June last year when he was caught allegedly trying to break into the house, his girlfriend was arrested at the time with him.The human rights organisation ‘Pro Derechos Humanos de España’ is placing a public interest suit in the case and is understood to be claiming civil responsibility from Torrevieja Town Hall should any compensation be granted in the sentence.

David Walter Cook sentenced to 13 years in prison

British driver on trial in Alicante for the death of a teenage moped rider has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in a ruling which, EFE reports, notes that David Walter Cook continued driving knowing that the youngster was trapped beneath his car.
17 year old José Antonio Caro Buendía from Alfaz del Pi died in March 2008 after he was thrown from his moped by a first vehicle, and was then hit by another which dragged him along the road for 2kms before fleeing the scene. The second car was traced to Mr Cook and his partner, Angela Green, a British couple resident in Polop.
The Alicante provincial court said in the ruling released this Wednesday that Mr Cook, originally from Stourbridge, continued driving with the teenager beneath the vehicle before stopping at an urbanisation to manoeuvre the car back and forth and managing to free the body.Mr Cook was also ordered to pay 300,000 € compensation to the victim’s family, while his partner, Angela Green, was given an 18-month sentence for failing to help the teenager.

Arrest was made on a European Arrest Order of 41 year old British man

41 year old British man who is wanted on charges of falsification and fraud has been arrested by National Police in Rójales, Alicante.The arrest was made on a European Arrest Order and the man will now be appear in the National Court before being extradited back to France where he faces upto ten years in prison.Named with the initials R.A.B., the order for his arrest was issued by the judicial authorities in France only two days ago.

Alicante ‘Lops Capito’ gangman died and another was seriously injured in a shooting

Man died and another was seriously injured in a shooting in the Juan XXIII district of Alicante city on Saturday afternoon.Police are investigating the motive for the attacks but they think it was related to drug trafficking.On their arrival at the scene SAMU medics could do no more than to declare a man in his 40’s, named with the initials L.I.P. as dead, while another aged 44 and identified as J.G.A.R. was taken to the General Hospital in the city after being shot it the throat and arm.Police say they are searching for a third person who could possibly have been the shooter and is a member of the ‘Lops Capito’ gang. The search has been opened up to other provinces across the country.Local residents have complained about the lack of security in the area, and noted that nobody came forward as a witness to what they may have seen.

Spanish police have arrested more than 50 people, most of them Britons, suspected of involvement in a network that falsified identity documents

Spanish police have arrested more than 50 people, most of them Britons, suspected of involvement in a network that falsified identity documents for clients around the world.They have also identified around 100 British citizens living in Spain whom they suspect of using the fake documents to obtain bank credit, mostly mortgages of between 200,000 and 1.5 million euros.The gang's operations may have defrauded some 25 financial institutions in Spain of around 60 million euros (80 million dollars), police said in a statement.Spanish authorities have also provided information to the international police agency Europol on more than 1,000 people in 26 countries in the five continents suspected of obtaining fake documents from the gang.Police in the eastern Mediterranean resort city of Alicante opened an investigation in early 2007 after spotting websites that offered fake driving licences, residence permits, birth certificates, academic qualifications and other official documents, the statement said.
In May 2007 they arrested two men and a woman, all Britons, in the Alicante region and seized equipment for producing fake documents, guns and ammunition in raids on two properties.Since mid-2008, 50 people, most of them British, have been arrested in various regions of Spain, and the operation is continuing."It was a perfectly structured organisation, capable of successfully producing all types of fake documents, including a vast range of clients and able to set up a full network of collaborators, which meant a high volume of fake documents were generated - more than 1,000 documents in three months," the statement said.The websites were administered in the United States but had virtual offices in the British colony of Gibraltar, off Spain's southern tip.Two of the Britons arrested, identified only by their initials AK and DM, were located last November through appeals from the British charity Crimestoppers and Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency.The investigation also led to the identification of a British man who was wanted for a murder in the southern city of Malaga, and who police believe may have fled to Britain using fake documents supplied by the gang.investigation has also led to the identification of another British resident, wanted in connection with a homicide carried out some years ago in Málaga. Spanish police say this man has now returned to the U.K. using a fake identity created by the group now detained.The Guardia Civil has described the group as perfectly organised, with the ability of obtaining all types of fake documents, and with a wide network of clients and collaborators.
They are thought to have generated more than 1,000 false documents over a three month period.

unnamed British man in his mid thirties has died after falling from the balcony of a hotel when he was trying to flee from the Guardia Civil.

unnamed British man in his mid thirties has died after falling from the balcony of a hotel when he was trying to flee from the Guardia Civil.The man died around 5am on Friday morning after falling from the first floor of the hotel in Guardamar, Alicante, and suffered severe head injuries. It’s thought he was trying to escape after the Guardia Civil were called because of his allegedly drunken and rowdy behaviour which had been disturbing other hotel guests.He was taken by helicopter to hospital but died shortly after.Información newspaper reports that the two British people in the room refused to open the door to the Guardia Civil when they arrived, and when the Guardia managed to gain access one of the men tried to escape over the balcony which was only three metres high.An autopsy has been carried out and the friend of the deceased has been arrested.

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante

FORGERY DISTRIBUTION GANG linked to the Italian mafia have been arrested in Alicante for dealing and spending counterfeit Euros.The gang are alleged to have purchased the fake cash from the Calabresa Mafia at a price between 30% and 40% of the face value of the notes. They then spent the money in local markets and small shops across the region.The Guardia Civil say they have arrested a total of 20 people in relation to the case, in Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería and Lugo, and that the notes were also distributed in Portugal and the North of Africa. 150,000 € worth of 20 and 50€ notes were recovered by the Guardia Civil, in an investigation which started at the end of last year.It’s thought the gang has distributed as much as a million fake Euros since being established.

40 year old man who was seriously injured when attacked with a baseball bat

40 year old man who was seriously injured when attacked with a baseball bat while taking a walk on the El Postuguet beach in the city, has died in the Alicante General Hospital.The emergency services were called to the scene of the aggression at 7,15am on Wednesday morning.

Depot manager at Movers International, became suspicious about a request to ship furniture from Alicante to Preston

Depot manager at Movers International, based at Red Scar Industrial Estate, became suspicious about a request to ship furniture from Alicante to Preston.
And when Spanish police checked the furniture they discovered £250,000 worth of cannabis destined for the streets of Liverpool.
This week Peter Thomas, 47, of Upper Brassey Street, Birkenhead, who had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to supply 122 kilograms of the Class C drug, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Preston Crown Court.
Thomas' conviction follows a joint operation between Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit and the Guardia Civil Police, based in the Alicante area of Spain, which began in June 2006 and was sparked by the depot manager's suspicions.Codenamed Operation Hazel, it targeted the importation of cannabis from Spain into the UK.Preston Crown Court prosecutor Robert Platts said in July 2006 the cannabis resin was seized by the Spanish authorities in Alicante after the manager at Movers International became "highly suspicious'' of a request to ship furniture from Spain to Preston.The cannabis would have been delivered with the furniture to Preston and was then to be delivered to an address in the Liverpool area.As a result of the investigation Thomas was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis.A spokesperson for the Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: "This is another excellent example of Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit disrupting the importation of controlled drugs into the UK .
"We have developed partnerships with colleagues from enforcement agencies on the European mainland and this investigation illustrates how, by working together with the Spanish police, we were able to prevent the supply of the cannabis and disrupt a well developed network."We will continue to work with colleagues across Europe to protect the communities of Lancashire and the United Kingdom from drugs and other highly profitable organised crime."

Gerard John Dutton convicted lorry had travelled across from Alicante, Spain and had hidden 1.5 tonnes of the drug in six pallets of floor tiles.

Gerard John Dutton, 61, of Saddlemakers Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, set up two false companies in order to facilitate the importation of two separate loads of cannabis and admitted the charge at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday 8 October.
The charge was a result of Operation Cromer, an investigation run by the Met's Project Team, which spent seven months identifying an organised criminal network involved in importing and supplying cannabis from southern Spain.The team passed intelligence onto H.M. Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and on 3 April, they stopped and searched a Spanish registered lorry arriving into Dover's eastern docks. The lorry had travelled across from Alicante, Spain and had hidden 1.5 tonnes of the drug in six pallets of floor tiles.On 8 July, HMRC officers stopped a further Spanish registered lorry as it came through the port of Dover. In this instance they discovered six pallets of 'dressed stone', hiding a further 1.56 tonnes of cannabis resin.Dutton was subsequently arrested the same day in North Yorkshire and brought back to London for questioning.The lorry drivers and haulage companies involved in the case were innocent victims, duped into believing the loads were genuine cargos of tile and stone.Detective Inspector Grant Johnson from the Met's Project Team, said: "Dutton went out of his way to dissociate himself from the cargo, by setting up two false companies.

House jacking Romanian and a Spaniard sentenced to total of 18 years and 6 months in jail for holding a British couple hostage

Provincial Court in Alicante has sent a Romanian and a Spaniard to total of 18 years and 6 months in jail for holding a British couple hostage in their home in Moraira, Alicante in April 2004. The two acted with two others to kidnap and rob the couple in the ‘Club Moraira’ urbanisation, threatening them with a knife and two pistols and finally leaving the wife tied up in a house in Cabo de la Nao.
The two in court in Alicante this week admitted their guilt in the case and the sentences against them are the result of a plea deal under which they also have to pay 2,600 € to the couple with 200 British pounds. They told the court that they went to the British couple’s house with the intention of getting all that they could and as there was little cash in the house decided to hold the couple until the banks opened the following morning. The man was escorted to the bank to withdraw 20,000 €, but in the bank he managed to alert a worker that he was being robbed and was only therefore given 500 €.

Alicante rabbit chop their victims on the back of the neck as they were taking money from cash machines

A gang who amassed 150,000 euros through violent crime have been arrested in Torrevieja .These criminals attacked their victims across a wide range , from Valencia to Murcia , with more than 20 violent thefts .Four of the men are from south America and one is a Spaniard .Their modus operandi was to rabbit chop their victims on the back of the neck as they were taking money from cash machines .One of their victims was relieved of 21,000 euros as he left a bank in Alicante .They have been charged with robbery and grievous bodily harm .

Movers International Europe duped into drug running

Simon Ashworth, operations manager at Movers International Europe, a household removals firm, said his staff in Spain were stunned when they discovered the drugs hidden in pieces of furniture the firm was due to transport to a depot at at Longridge Road, Red Scar.The staff immediately reported the find, in June 2006, to the Guardia Civil in Alicante who mounted a joint operation with the county's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to track the load.It was discovered the haul had come from a sophisticated drugs network in Spain.Mr Ashworth, 38, said: "We undertook the job believing it to be furniture from a warehouse in Alicante.
"But when a man delivered the goods to our base in Alicante we were suspicious at how quickly he wanted to get away. "They were heavy, awkward pieces of furniture and something didn't add up. The police were called and the furniture was sealed back up and packed back in its bubble wrap and sent on its way as arranged so the officers could see where it ended up. At this end I helped a courier who had been sent by the person who was supposed to receive the furniture to load it into his van.
"The police struck later when it arrived at Merseyside."A SOCU officer, who cannot be named, said: "We would have been looking at roughly up to £250,000 street value."

Peter Thomas convicted 122 kilo grams of cannabis resin, which had been destined for Preston, was seized by the Spanish authorities in the Alicante

In June 2006 a joint operation between Lancashire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit and the Guardia Civil Police based in the Alicante area of Spain began. Codenamed Operation Hazel, it targeted the importation of cannabis from Spain into the UK. In July 2006 122 kilo grams of cannabis resin, which had been destined for Preston, was seized by the Spanish authorities in the Alicante area.
After coming to Preston the cannabis was then delivered to an address in the Liverpool area. As a result five people, a man from Preston and two men and two women from Merseyside, were arrested in connection with the investigation. The Preston man and a man and woman from Merseyside were later released without charge. Margaret McGee, 48, of Grafton Street, Prenton, Merseyside was charged with conspiracy to supply a controlled drug. Thomas was charged with the same offence.
Peter Thomas, 47, of Upper Brassey Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside, admitted the charge at Preston Crown Court yesterday. Both appeared at court yesterday, McGee was cleared while Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge. Thomas will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Friday, November 7.

50 year old man died after suffering indigestion when swimming at Cabopino near Marbella

A 50 year old man died after suffering indigestion when swimming at Cabopino near Marbella, and a 75 year old drowned on a beach in Mojácar, Almería. In this last case the efforts of his son who was with him on the beach and of the Protección Civil could do nothing to save his life.A body, thought to be of a four to six year old was found on Saturday floating off the Carchuna beach in Calahonda Granada, but decomposition was such that the child’s sex could not be confirmed.An 11 year old boy drowned after rescuing his younger brother who had fallen into a irrigation pond in Orihuela, Alicante, and a seven year old boy drowned in a swimming pool in a summer camp at San Martín de Valdeiglesias in Madrid.

Alicante police have arrested two 29 year old Spanish men, S.S.G. and F.B.H. on charges of computer fraud

Alicante police have arrested two 29 year old Spanish men, S.S.G. and F.B.H. on charges of computer fraud. The two sent spam and used other people’s bank accounts to bet in online casinos in a fraud which allegedly amounted to 280,000 €. Plane tickets and hotel reservations were also obtained by the pair often using the fraud techniques known as phishing and identity theft.
Police say they found the bank details of thousands of people from all over the world on their computer.

Russian man was arrested at the El Altet airport

Russian man was arrested at the El Altet airport in Alicante on Sunday after customs officers detected a strange bulge in the man’s trousers.On investigation they found 971 grams of cocaine had been taped to the man’s legs below the knees.The man, named with the intials A.Z. will appear in court locally shortly

57 year old British man has been arrested accused of sexually abusing his 14 year old daughter.

57 year old British man has been arrested accused of sexually abusing his 14 year old daughter. The suspect was detained at 4am yesterday morning at an address on the Los Altos residential estate in Orihuela Costa (Alicante) shortly after a complaint made by the girl's mother.

Man has been arrested by the local police in Alicante after allegedly stabbing his father

Man has been arrested by the local police in Alicante after allegedly stabbing his father during an argument on Saturday night. The difference of opinion emerged when the two were discussing the First Communion plans for a nephew and the victim was stabbed in the shoulder. He has now been allowed home after treatment in the Alicante General Hospital, while the aggressor has now been handed over to the National Police and is expected to appear in court shortly.

John O'Connell and wife Mary were killed instantly when they were struck by a Peugeot 206 at an accident blackspot on the Costa Blanca

Suspected Drink driver who killed two Irish pedestrians in Spain has blamed poor road conditions and the couple's "lack of caution" for their deaths.
The 35-year-old has been remanded in custody while a judge investigates him for the possible crime of manslaughter.John O'Connell (46) and wife Mary (45), from Cahirciveen, Co Kerry, were killed instantly when they were struck by a Peugeot 206 at an accident blackspot on the Costa Blanca on Monday night.Now the driver is said to be considering suing local authorities because of the poor condition of the N332 in Orihuela Costa, where the tragedy occurred.He was arrested at the scene after allegedly failing a breath test. He is also thought to have been speeding.But in a statement to an investigating judge behind closed doors on Tuesday, the driver said the area was badly lit and badly signposted.His lawyer reportedly blamed the tragedy on the "possible imprudence" of Mr and Mrs O'Connell.The driver, originally from Madrid but living in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca, was returning from a dinner in a restaurant when he ploughed into the couple as they walked down the street.He has not been charged with any offence. The investigating judge will decide at a later date if he should face charges.The driver was told he would be held at the Folcalent prison in Alicante unless he could stump up the €6,000 bail.Meanwhile, yesterday a local restaurant owner told how he attempted to revive the couple after the horror crash but found they were already dead.Both bodies were found 50 metres from the car.
Jose Ramon Machuca said: "I had just closed my restaurant and I heard the bang. I tried taking their pulses but they were already dead."The driver didn't seem drunk to me, not at all. He seemed to be very normal."This has happened before, and it's a miracle it doesn't happen more often, because there is no pedestrian walkway, no footbridge, nothing."At night it's horrendous. I have reported it but the town hall has just ignored me."The couple, who have no children, were just hours into their holiday and were walking back to their hotel from a concert when they were struck by the car.They had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows.The stretch of road where the tragedy occurred, lined with bars and restaurants and near to a popular ex-pat residential neighbourhood called La Zenia, is a notorious accident blackspot.Local residents who live either side of the road and holidaymakers who stay in nearby hotels and self-catering apartments, have long complained of the dangers they face crossing it.Fr William Crean, of Cahirciveen parish church, said: "The town is simply devastated. They were heavily involved in the local community."