Russian crime gangs on the Costa del Sol are injecting kidnap victims with what they claim is an experimental KGB virus

Russian crime gangs on the Costa del Sol are injecting kidnap victims with what they claim is an experimental KGB virus to terrify them into paying ransoms. In the latest case, four Russians told their victim that he would die within 24 hours if he did not pay them €12,000 (£10,000). But the businessman called their bluff and alerted the police, who arrested the gang. The kidnappers had seized the Russian businessman in the middle of a street last week in Estepona, a Spanish resort popular with British tourists and expatriates. They put a hood over his head and bundled him into a waiting car. After being held for two days, during which he was subjected to threats, beatings and electric shocks, he was injected with a substance which the gang claimed was an experimental virus developed by the KGB, the former Russian security service. The man was told that he would develop a fever, start sweating profusely, feel sick, then begin vomiting. Soon afterwards, they said, he would die. The businessman did start sweating and feeling sick, and the gang tried to convice him that the only way they could save him was by injecting an antidote which they possessed. When they took him to get the cash from a bank they let him slip away, believing that he would return with the money. Instead, heavily armed police surrounded them. The Spanish Organised Crime Unit arrested three men and a woman. All were Russian nationals aged between 24 and 57 and they have been charged with kidnapping, torture and possession of illegal fire arms. Police seized a mobile phone from one kidnapper, in which he had photographed the way the gang tortured the victim. Officers said that there had been a spate of kidnappings in this part of the Costa del Sol. In March, the wife and daughter of a Russian businessman were kidnapped in Estepona. The gang threatened to kill them unless the husband paid a €2 million (£1.7 million) ransom, but they were rescued within 24 hours. The Russian mafia has been gaining ground in Spain since the decade-long property boom allowed many gangs an easy outlet to launder money. But police operations have detained two leading members of Russian crime cartels in the past 12 months. Last year, Gennadios Petrov, the head of the Tambovskaya-Malyshevkaya gang, was arrested at his neo-classical mansion in Calvi, one of the most exclusive villages in Majorca. In a major operation, codenamed Troika, 20 alleged members of the organised crime organisation said to have been led by Petrov were arrested in Majorca, Málaga, Alicante, Valencia and Madrid. Police seized 23 luxury cars including Bentleys and Ferraris and €200,000 (£170,000) in cash. Last weekend, Tariel Oniani, a Georgian considered to be the No2 in the Russian criminal empire in Spain, was arrested in Moscow. In 2005, Oniani fled his mansion near Barcelona after a tip-off from a corrupt Spanish official on the eve of a major police operation against Russian crime gangs. He is expected to face charges of laundering illicit cash obtained from criminal activities in Russia into property, restaurants and car sales in Spain.

George Lavery, aged 42, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay £5,500 in compensation. John Hamilton,was sentenced to 2 and a half

George Lavery, aged 42, from Clapham Common in London was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay £5,500 in compensation. John Hamilton, aged 51, from St Leonards in Sussex was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison and ordered to pay £4,500 in compensation. Neither of them were present at the sentencing so warrants have been issued to trace them.Lavery, formerly of High Street in Berkhamsted at the time of the offence, works as a psychic medium and had been contacted by the victim, who wanted to contact a girlfriend after their relationship had broken down. Lavery, also known as Simon Lavery, told the victim that he could help him rebuild
the relationship.Lavery and Hamilton then contacted the victim pretending to be the ex girlfriend via a mobile phone the victim had bought for them. They persuaded him to part with thousands of pounds of money under the pretext of a wedding between the man and his ex girlfriend. This included an engagement ring.The victim, a man from Watford, eventually realised that he had been defrauded when he saw the mobile phone he had bought at Lavery's house. He then contacted the ex girlfriend on her usual mobile number, but she knew nothing of the wedding. The offence took place between October 1 2007 and 2 June 2008.Lavery and Hamilton were found guilty in their absence today after originally pleading not guilty in September 2008 to fraud by false representation.Detective Constable Phil Freebrey, the officer in the case, said: "These are robust and positive sentences for a cruel and callous crime against a man who was at a vulnerable time in his life."It is unusual for offenders to be sentenced in their absence. We would strongly urge anyone who has seen either of these men to get in touch so they can now serve their sentences and pay the compensation."It is possible they could be in the London or Sussex areas where they come from, Gibraltar where Lavery was due to hold an event on June 9, the Costa del Sol where there was an event on June 11."I am also keen to hear from anyone else who thinks they may have been defrauded by these two individuals. We would ask them to get in touch so we can investigate."

Polaris World property developer based in the region, is in talks to reduce its debt by handing over some of its property assets to the banks

Murcia newspaper, La Verdad, reports today that the Polaris World property developer based in the region, is in talks to reduce its debt by handing over some of its property assets to the banks it is in debt to.The company is reported to have taken on loans totalling nearly 900 million € over recent years and is reported to now be offering both land and housing to the banks.The newspaper reports that if the talks are successful the company could clear its debt to leave it in a good position for the future. The main banks concerned are Bancaja, CAM, Banco Popular, Banco de Valencia and Cajamurcia.Given the collapse in the British market for homes in the region, Polaris World has recently concentrated its promotions on the Spanish market.

Judges in Málaga say they will support strike action on June 26

Judges in Málaga say they will support strike action on June 26 if the final call to do so comes from their union. The judges in the city consider that the advances made in talks with the Ministry for Justice to be ‘insufficient’. A further stoppage is reported to have 90% support.The last 24 hour stoppage was on February 18 this year as the judges protest against what they consider to be a serious lack of resources.

Deborah Hatto, from Crawley, was stabbed to death as she slept in her apartment in Coin, near Malaga, Spain, last June.

Deborah Hatto, from Crawley, was stabbed to death as she slept in her apartment in Coin, near Malaga, Spain, last June.The mother's blood-soaked body was found in bed by her 10-year-old daughter after she was stabbed as she slept. Her German boyfriend Jimmie Willis, who was described as “cold and calculating” by forensic psychologists, has been found guilty of her murder. Ms Hatto's daughter, who was just ten at the time, told a Costa Del Sol court via video link how she discovered her mother's lifeless body on the eve of her 42nd birthday. Forensic scientists, who examined her body, said there was no sign of a struggle and Ms Hatto was most likely asleep in bed when she received the single fatal stab wound. The murder weapon was discovered next to the mother’s body. Officers from Spain's Guardia Civil said Willis, 60, originally from Frankfurt, had claimed he struck because "he couldn't take it any more." They also said they found traces of her blood on his neck, behind his ear. The Scientific Police of Madrid stated that the wound inflicted on the victim coincided with the knife found at the side of the bed. But in court, Willis said the biological father of Ms Hatto's daughter was responsible for the killing - a claim that was rejected by the court. Willis' lawyers also tried to persuade the jury of five women and four men that he should be charged with unlawful killing with extenuating circumstances. A public prosecutor called for him to receive a 15 year sentence for unlawful killing, but the jury agreed with Javier Florido Martin, representing Ms Hatto's family who said the charge should be murder. Mr Martin said: “I maintained from the outset that this was a matter of murder and not unlawful killing. “The forensic psychiatrists stated that Jimmie Willis was in a perfect mental state, that he was not clinically insane and that he knew perfectly well what he was doing. “The forensic psychologist - in response to questions asked by the prosecution – described Jimmie Willis as 'cold and calculating', 'insensitive' and 'with no remorse whatsoever'. “The jury reached a verdict and declared the accused guilty of murder with no extenuating circumstances. They were 100% in agreement with the family.”

Keen traveller Ms Hatto, grew up in Horsham and moved from Crawley to Spain with her daughter three years before she was brutally killed.

Willis is due to be sentenced next week.

Salvador Alberto M.M.has been charged with the murder of his ex girlfriend

Salvador Alberto M.M.has been charged with the murder of his ex girlfriend, Isabel Canino Rivero, whose body was found on May 20 in the septic tank of the accused’s home.It comes after he gave a statement to the judge on Sunday, with the judge then enforcing reporting restrictions.The victim had been missing for some two months.

New bylaws introduced in Tossa de Mar near Girona have banned sex on the beach.

New bylaws introduced in Tossa de Mar near Girona have banned sex on the beach. Those caught face a 400 – 1,800 € fine from Monday.Many youngsters, and those not so young, are protesting against the new regulations which they consider to be exaggerated, and which also ban alcohol and stag night parties on the sand. Protests are being organised over the internet, and some local buildings now show graffiti which says in English ‘Sex on the beach’.

Spanish bullfighter Israel Lancho was seriously gored by the sixth bull as the San Isidro fiesta continued in Madrid on Wednesday.

Spanish bullfighter Israel Lancho was seriously gored by the sixth bull as the San Isidro fiesta continued in Madrid on Wednesday. He reached the bullring surgery conscious but is now said to be in a very serious condition in hospital after being gored 20cms deep at great speed upwards in the chest. Doctor Máximo García Padrós operated on him in the bullring surgery under general anaesthetic.The matador is now in a very serious condition in the Clinica Virgen del Mar in the Spanish capital.

Charlie Bronson hopes to move to Costa del Sol and open a pub

Charlie Bronson hopes to move to Spain and open a pub when he finally gets out of jail.The 58-year-old former Ellesmere Port resident wants to buy a bar on the Costa del Sol – and has already talked over plans with his brother Mark Peterson, who lives near Aberystwyth, Wales.Mark said: “He would love to end up running a bar in Spain.“But first he plans to settle with me to be near our mother Eira who is now 78.”A prison source told Sunday newspaper The People: “Bronson has been talking about moving to the Costa del Sol when he gets out of prison for ages now.“It has always been a bit of a Utopia for prisoners and criminals and he thinks he would live the rest of his life there.”Bronson is currently awaiting a parole board hearing after being transferred to Category C Long Lartin prison, Worcestershire, from top-security Wakefield prison.He was initially jailed for armed robbery in 1974 but a series of attacks and hostage-taking kept him locked-up and earned him the reputation of the country’s most violent inmate.Labelled Britain’s most dangerous prisoner, he has been the subject of a film – Bronson – which is partly autobiographical and partly surreal fantasy.Earlier this year on it’s cinema release, his family, some of whom still live in Ellesmere Port, travelled to London to watch the premiere of the movie, which has been accused of glorifying his violent acts.It is due out on DVD soon. Aside from a few months of freedom, Bronson has spent 34 years behind bars, most in solitary confinement.

Contacted 27 owners of properties in Marbella requesting documentation proving their entitlement to enclosures of land

Coasts authority has contacted 27 owners of properties in Marbella requesting documentation proving their entitlement to enclosures of land which has been legally part of the public domain since boundaries were determined in the 60s and 70s. Owners have been given until next week to provide documentary proof of the legality of walls, fences, pools, sheds and gardens, otherwise they will be required to draw back their boundaries. One of the homes affected is in the name of Cayetan Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba, whose garden wall appears to enclose 32 square metres of public land. Others include part of the Hotel Marbella Club gardens, and a wall on the Cortijo Blanco beach belonging to Marbella Town Hall.
‘Costas’ will be moving its attention next to more recent buildings which may infringe the rules of the 1988 Coasts Law, which imposed new zoning rules and gave greater protection, for example, to sand dunes. By the time compliance with all the more recent regulations is enforced, it is estimated that 68,341 square metres of seafront land may be restored to public ownership.Spain’s Socialist government, keen to clean up the ugly concrete jungle along its costas, has taken a dim view of the duchess’s turreted summer residence on the Costa del Sol and wants parts of it bulldozed. A wall and a lawn leading to Casablanca beach in Marbella may contravene the so-called Coastal Law which states that all land within 100m (328ft) of a shoreline is public property and bans building within that area. Any private building falling within this zone can be knocked down depending on a local authority’s interpretation and enforcement of the legislation. The law has ramifications for thousands of British expatriates who bought villas next to the Mediterranean and now face the prospect that their properties could be reduced to rubble. Homes owned by Spaniards have already been knocked down in Tenerife and Cantabria in northern Spain. Francisco Javier Hermoso, head of the regional Coastal Authority, said that the Duchess had eight days to prove that her property was built with legal permission. If it is deemed to have broken the law part of the sumptuous residence could be knocked down. If the bulldozers roll up, it will be the latest humiliation for the fiery-tempered aristocrat. A regular face in Spain’s prensa rosa — or gossip press — her love life has recently provided succulent reading after it emerged that her children opposed her planned marriage to a family friend 24 years her junior. “They don’t want me to marry, but they change partners more often than I do,” she told the Spanish media. The waxen-faced duchess, whose full name is Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva — she counts the Stuart king James II of England among her ancestors — is often photographed at society gatherings and bullfights, where her former son-in-law, Francisco Rivera Ordóñez, a popular matador, is the star attraction. As well as not having to kneel before the Pope, her other ancient rights include the unique privilege of being able to ride into the immense Seville Cathedral on horseback. A previous Duchess of Alba was the model — and supposed lover — of Francisco de Goya. Two of Goya’s most famous portraits, The Clothed Maja and The Naked Maja, hang in the Madrid palace where the present Duchess was born. She was a dazzling beauty in her youth and her wedding in 1947 to Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artacoz was described as “the most expensive in the world”. After her first husband’s death, she stunned public opinion by marrying Jesús Aguirre y Ortiz de Zárate, a free-thinking former Jesuit priest, in 1978. Today the duchess cuts a strange figure with her high-pitched voice and frail health. She was recently photographed in a wheelchair at a society wedding and nearly choked to death on orange juice. About 500,000 British and other property owners fear that the Government is not content with enforcing the Coastal Law but wants to make it retroactive. After condemnation of the law by the European Parliament and pressure from the British and German Governments Spain has agreed to allow owners to sell affected properties.

Margaret Moran MP Padre Eterno, near Orgiva

Margaret Moran reportedly ‘flipped’ her second home between Westminster, Luton and Southampton, claiming thousands on each in turn.At the same time, she has rented out the four-bedroom villa in Granada at various times since buying it in 1984.
The Labour MP, who charged taxpayers £22,000 for dry rot treatment at a home her husband owns in England, used a local agent to organise the rentals.
Holiday lettings agency Rustic Blue confirmed to the Olive Press that it had rented out the luxury property in Padre Eterno, near Orgiva on a number of occasions.
“Moran is supposed to be a Labour MP but she is behaving like an English imperialist from the days of the Raj. She should buy herself a villa in Marbella and be done with it”While the agency, based in Bubion, is no longer renting out the property, which is joint owned by her brother John, a spokesman said: “I remember the house. We used to rent it, but it is no longer on our books.“I can’t remember what it was on for, but we used to rent it through a local friend, who was in charge of the property and garden.“It was a popular place and in a charming spot.”
While there is no suggestion of impropriety over the rentals, her true socialist values were called into question after she bulldozed an access path to dozens of neighbours’ homes.The Olive Press reported how she had been forced to call police after becoming embroiled in a vicious neighbour’s dispute over the path.Her neighbours called a protest, insisting that the path had been used for more than 20 years by verbal agreement.Eventually the MP for Luton South was ordered by a judge in 2007 to reopen the path. She later lost an appeal.At the same time Miss Moran was accused of breaching parliamentary rules by pinning a notice to her gatepost using official House of Commons paper.The notice, which she denied to the Olive Press, had warned neighbours not to come on her land.When the story appeared in the British Press, Miss Moran contacted solicitors then claimed their £881.25 bill through her Incidental Office Expenses account, which is meant to cover the running of her constituency office.The claim was waived through by the fees office. However in 2007-08, she bought a fridge and blinds that were delivered to her Luton property. The House of Commons said: “you wouldn’t be able to use the IEP to furnish homes”.
The fees office did reject some of Miss Moran’s claims, however. It refused to pay a £47 bill from a printer for Christmas cards and £164.50 for birthday cards.
As The Daily Telegraph disclosed, Miss Moran ‘flipped’ her second homes over four years, spending thousands of pounds on decorating each one in turn.First, she installed a new £4,756.40 kitchen, fitted a £2,678 carpet and bought a bed worth £527.20 for a flat near the House of Commons.Miss Moran then switched her second-home designation to Luton and spent £2,350 on the garden, £1,823.09 on bathroom repairs, £212.50 on bedding and £4,200 on decorating.Finally, she changed her second home to the semi-detached property in Southampton, which her husband has owned since 1988, and soon after claimed £22,500 for the dry rot treatment, a fraction less than the maximum allowance available for the whole year.The fees office said she had broken the “spirit” of the rules, but admitted it was powerless to reject her claims.
Miss Moran said: “It is all within the claims policy and that’s why I’m angry about this because it gives the incredibly misleading impression that somehow we’ve been dodgy, that we’ve been fraudulent or we’ve been corrupt.After losing her battle to block access paths in 2007, neighbours described her behaviour as “mean, bloody-minded and tawdry.”“It was completely unsocialist behaviour,” said neighbour Nick Nicholson, who works in the oil industry.Another neighbour Nuri went further. “Moran is supposed to be a Labour MP but she is behaving like an English imperialist from the days of the Raj. She should buy herself a villa in Marbella and be done with it.”

The Brits to Spain holiday market is in meltdown at the moment.

"Unless prices drop soon, dozens of hotels, restuarants and tourist attractions in Spain and its islands risk closure."Last year 15.8million UK tourists holidayed in Spain, representing 27 per cent of all visitors to the country.But while Spain remains our No1 destination, the number of Brits going there is down by 23 per cent so far this year.The explanation is simple. In January 2007 Britons travelling to Spain got 1.5 euros for a pound. Now they get just 1.1.By comparison, Turkey, Egypt and other non-euro countries look very good value for money.A recent survey by Thomas Cook found the average holiday expenditure in Majorca was £42.40 per person per day. In Egypt it was £33.93, in Turkey £30.12, in Cuba, £27.44 and in Goa just £12.58.But great deals in mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands could be just around the corner.Steve Endacott, Chief Executive of travel agents On Holiday, confirmed: "Destinations like Minorca and Majorca have been hit particularly badly."But the majority of late charter flight seats left to sell are to Spain and at really low prices. I,ve never seen such low prices for flights to Spain. Basically, there are a lot more Spanish holidays to sell, while most deals to Turkey, Egypt and the like have gone."Spain has also seen a huge slump in domestic bookings.And many Spanish hoteliers are ready to slash rates much more aggressively than Greek or Turkish hotels.Britain's leading travel group TUI Travel announced earlier this week that almost HALF of its holidays had yet to be sold.Overall, the beleaguered tourism industry has seen bookings fall by an estimated quarter of a billion pounds this year. The total number of all foreign trips booked this year has fallen by nearly 20 per cent, as cautious Brits, fearing that they could lose their jobs, wait until the last minute before buying.The pound is also much weaker against the US dollar than it was and trips to North America have slumped by 29 per cent.
Travel industry expert Kevin May advised families to look for bargains in June and July. He said: "Firms are not filling up all their plane seats and hotel rooms, so once we get into June and there's still capacity to fill, prices will have to come down."A spokeswoman for Which? Holiday said: "There will be bargains. But one market that is holding up well is Britain. Camp sites and places like Center Parcs are 99 per cent booked up." Surprisingly, one overseas destination worth checking out for cheap deals is pig flu-hit Mexico.The Foreign Office has lifted its ban on non-essential travel and flights resume on May 24.Experts said travel agents are set to cut prices on Mexico.

Marbella proceedings started against properties owned by Marbella Town Hall and the Hotel Marbella Club.

Demarcación General de Costas is reported to have started proceedings to recover the land, declared to be public shoreline, on which nearly 30 homes and other buildings have been constructed in Marbella.Among those affected is the Duchess of Alba, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, who faces losing 32 square metres of her property on the Casa Blanca beach. A wall with gated access to her land has to go, according to the latest official provincial bulletin.The coastal authority has also started proceedings against properties owned by Marbella Town Hall and the Hotel Marbella Club. Owners have an eight day period to present their complaints against the orders. Then, if no complaints are made, or if the complaints are considered non-applicable, ‘the necessary measures will be taken to recover the occupied public land’, and that can include what is described as ‘administrative eviction’ as outlined in the Ley de Costas.Similar inspections are expected to result more cases in Fuengirola, Benalmádena and Torremolinos later this month and in June as the coastal authority moves East.

Margaret Moran in southern Spain, parliamentary stationery may not be used for ‘personal, business or commercial correspondence’

British MP who was ordered to let neighbours use a right of way across her land in the Alpujarra could now face an investigation for allegedly using House of Commons notepaper to warn them off.The Daily Telegraph reports this Thursday that their journalists have located a piece of stationery with the Commons crest which reads, ‘Please note – this road is private & closed. Please remove your motorcycle from our land’. They say it’s written in English and Spanish, in handwriting which is an exact match to the MP’s.The note was reportedly in the possession of a British man who lives near the home owned by Margaret Moran in southern Spain. Two years ago, a court in Órgiva ordered the Labour MP to allow locals to use a right of way over her property in Carataunas, a small village in the Alpujarra, after she installed a gate to block the way. The Briton found the note pinned to his motorbike and has told the Telegraph that he decided to keep it to pin up on the wall above his toilet.Another neighbour claimed back in 2007 that he had also found a note from Ms Moran written on House of Commons paper, an allegation which the MP denied. Under House of Commons regulations, parliamentary stationery may not be used for ‘personal, business or commercial correspondence’, and it’s understood the Commons has been informed of the matter reported this week by the Telegraph.

Fuengirola criminal attempts to remove his finger prints

Police in Fuengirola have arrested a 30 year old criminal who had several warrants out for his arrest and a long criminal record. The suspect was caught a few days ago when he and another criminal of the same nationality jumped a police checkpoint. Officers chased the suspect, who was driving a rented Opel Corsa, and managed to corner him.Inside the vehicle officers found a suitcase, clothes and a safe which they discovered had been stolen from a tourist who was staying at a hotel. Once taken to the police cells, the man was caught rubbing his fingers against the wall to try and remove his fingerprints to stop the police from identifying him. When approached by an officer, the suspect tried to take his gun off him in order to escape. He was finally restained and now awaits a court date.

Charles Stabler, 65, never woke from a coma after being hit around the head last month.

Charles Stabler, 65, never woke from a coma after being hit around the head last month.A neighbour called emergency services after seeing smoke coming from the flat, in the seaside resort of Benalmadena.Fireman found Mr Stabler lying unconscious on the floor of the flat and he was taken to the Carlos Haya hospital in Malaga.
The burglar fled after ransacking the apartment and setting it on fire.A 44-year-old Spaniard was arrested 17 days later and is in prison on remand accused of the crime.He is thought to have followed Mr Stabler home from a local bar and forced his way in at around midnight on April 9.Mr Stabler had stayed at the resort, next to Torremolinos on the southern Spanish holiday coast, for some years.

20minutos reports that Pantoja broke off with the ex Mayor by giving the news first to Hola! Magazine.

Spanish Prensa Rosa gossip press are waiting to see what will happen between diva Isabel Pantoja and the ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz, also now considered to be the singer’s ex.
According to reports Pantoja sent a fax to Muñoz a month ago, giving him a month to remove his things from her Marbella home ‘Mi Gitana’. The fax also asked him to stop using her four wheel drive vehicle.However Muñoz has shown no intentions of going anywhere and some reports say that he says the Marbella property is his home and he will not leave by the back door.He says that he will only leave if told to by a judge saying that he has lived there with Pantoja since 2003 until he was sent to jail, and she headed to her other home in Madrid.20minutos reports that Pantoja broke off with the ex Mayor by giving the news first to Hola! Magazine.

Guadalpín Banús and the Guadalpín Marbella announced a suspension of payments, the procedure ahead of bankruptcy.

Two hotels owned by the Aifos company in Marbella have announced a suspension of payments, the procedure ahead of bankruptcy. The new judge in Marcantile Court 1 in Málaga, Afredo Elías, announced the move on April 27 against the Promociones y Servicios Hoteleros Guadalpin company which has been running both hotels concerned, the Guadalpín Banús and the Guadalpín Marbella.
It means that both hotels will now be run by three administrators who are a lawyer, an economist, and a representative from the Caja Publicidad company, who comes from one of the four companies owed money and who had called for suspension of payments. Also reported to be demanding the process were several owners of apartments in the Marbella hotel. Total debt of the two hotels has been reported in El País as reaching 1.17 million €. Some 300 workers are employed across both establishments.

Three dead bodies have been found on the 'Los Naranjos' property in less than a year.

The man arrested in connection with their deaths is the owner of the finca and testing for gunpowder residue is being carried out on the dead men’s hands to determine if either of them shot at the suspect now in custody. There are some reports that both were carrying pistols, and the owner of the finca is reported to have claimed that he defended himself when the two men attacked his property.Autopsies carried out on the bodies of two men found dead on the finca ‘Los Naranjos’, on the Camino de los Martínez in Alhaurín de la Torre, on Saturday night have confirmed that they were shot at close range with a hunting shotgun. Neither man was carrying documentation and has yet to be identified, although reports from El Mundo newspaper indicate they could be from South America and are possibly from Colombia.Civil Guards have arrested the owner of a house in Alhaurín de la Torre where the bodies of two men were discovered on Saturday night.
The men, who were not carrying any identification, had been shot dead with a shooting rifle. The owner of 'Los Naranjos' allegedly shot the two men and says that he was defending himself. It is thought that the two men had entered the property with the intention of burglarly.Apparently, at around 10.30 p.m. the owner was alone in the house when he was alerted to the presence of the two men, who were carrying guns, in the grounds by the barking of his dogs, the owner claims that the two intruders fired their weapons first and he pulled the trigger of his to defend himself. However, before this is confirmed, the police will have to examine the gun shells and the bullet wounds on the bodies of the victims.
Autopsies are being carried out and the police are trying to identify the victims. The same sources said that they could be Colombian and the police are working with the Colombian embassy.
Three dead bodies have been found on the 'Los Naranjos' property in less than a year.On April 30th last year a teacher in Alhaurín de la Torre, worried that a mother hadn't come to collect her daughter, called a neighbour. When the neighbour found the villa all closed up she called the police.When the police arrived they found the body of the ex-wife of the owner floating in the pool. She had a serious wound on her mouth and her neck had been cut. It later came to light that she had been alive when she entered the water.The victim (35) lived in the home of her ex-husband, who she had reported to the police several times for threatening behaviour.
The ex was questioned by police but he had a solid alibi. He said that he was on a trip to Cadiz.In the area, the owner of 'Los Naranjos' is known for being an animal lover. He cared for many exotic species and abandoned animals.

Len and Helen Prior,Constitutional Court has ruled the proceedings which led to the demolition to be invalid

There was some good news last week for Len and Helen Prior, the British couple whose home in Vera was demolished as illegal in January last year: the Constitutional Court has ruled the proceedings which led to the demolition to be invalid. The court states that the Priors were not informed of those proceedings and were therefore denied their right to effective judicial protection. The demolition itself has also been declared as invalid.The house was bulldozed on a court order which ruled that it was built illegally on rustic land, despite the fact that planning permission was granted from Vera Town Hall. The Priors have been living in their garage ever since, with no running water or electricity supply . Europa Press reports the couple have claimed 600,000 € from the Town Hall in compensation for the demolition.