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...

Stephen Mallon surrounded by a gang of 30 men and hurled off a 25ft balcony.

Stephen Mallon, 49, was pelted with bottles, glasses and other missiles after going to the aid of his two teenage sons outside a village bar.He was then surrounded by the mob and hurled off a 25ft balcony.Mr Mallon, from Bournemouth, was yesterday in a coma at a hospital in Malaga, with his distraught wife Teresa at his bedside.The attack happened in Competa, an hour from the Costa del Sol, where the family has had a holiday home for six years.One...

1,400 luxury homes in El Paraíso

An agreement was due to be signed in Estepona this Monday which will allow the Saudi royal family to go ahead with a project to build 1,400 luxury properties in the area of El Paraíso.La Opinión de Málaga reports it as a project previously approved by the Town Hall, but which was put on hold last June with the arrests in the Astapa corruption case. Some amendments have been made since then, including, at the request of the Partido Popular, a new...

British man accused by the business owner of stealing a barrel of beer worth 600 €.

British man named by Ideal newspaper as Leslie James B. has been arrested by the Almería Civil Guard for a spate of thefts from a business in Turre and selling the stolen items on to beach restaurants in Mojácar. He’s accused, according to Europa Press, of passing off cakes he allegedly stole from the shop as ones he had made himself.He was caught red-handed gaining access to the premises via a terrace and leaving with his haul. The suspect is reported...

Body found in the Alicante mountains where Michael Egglestone disappeared

Body found in the Alicante mountains where a British holidaymaker disappeared at the end of May is not believed to be that of the missing man, the UK Northern Echo reports this Thursday. The newspaper spoke to residents of Benichembla, where Michael Egglestone was staying when he disappeared, who said they had been told by the Guardia Civil that the body found on the mountains had not yet been identified. The newspaper said it’s believed to be a...

Top-level prostitution in Elche

Residents of a building in Elche, only constructed 18 months ago, say they have been fighting top-level prostitution in the block for the past five months.It’s because one of the flats on the fifth floor has become a luxury prostitution venue, and sees a never ending parade of prostitutes and their clients. The residents say they often have to put up with ‘unpleasant comments’ and so now they have started to protest by putting banners over their...

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...

Michael Leslie Eggleston went missing in the Alicante village of Benigembla a week ago

Guardia Civil has been continuing its search for the 54 year old British hiker who went missing in the Alicante village of Benigembla a week ago.Ex Soldier, Michael Leslie Eggleston, has not been seen since last Sunday when he went out hiking.His wife reported his disappearance on Tuesday, but so far the search, using mountain teams and a helicopter, has revealed nothing. It is concentrated in the mountain areas of La Solana and La Laguna.Benigembla...

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...

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 resourc...

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...

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...

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 beac...

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...