The family of a man (24) who died after an apparent assault in Gran Canaria today warned more tourists could be at risk unless crimes on the holiday island were properly investigated.
Dr Maeve Pomeroy said Spanish police had failed to fully examine the death of her son, Daniel O'Callaghan (24) from Windsor Road, Rathmines, in Dublin.
Mr O'Callaghan died on May 15th, 2003, from fatal head injuries he suffered two weeks earlier when he was chased up a laneway by an unknown man.
The Dublin City Coroner's Court, which passed a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown, heard from Chief Supt Noel White of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations that Spanish police had not followed proper investigation procedures and that no one had been arrested over the death.
"The only effective police investigation carried out in this case was by the Irish police in Ireland," Dr Pomeroy said.
"We feel that if a crime has been committed and there is no investigation and punishment of that crime then other young tourists could be at risk," she said. The family said that many Leaving Certificate students travelled to the sunshine isle celebrating exams.
Dr Pomeroy said the family would be pursuing the case fully through the European Convention of Human Rights to receive justice.
Mr O'Callaghan suffered serious head injuries at around 4 a.m. on Sunday April 27th, 2003 - the day after he arrived for a week-long holiday in Playa del Ingles - in the laneway beside the Greenfield apartment block where he was staying.
Spanish police initially pursued it as a fatal hit-and-run. The laneway in which Mr O'Callaghan was found unconscious was never sealed off and no forensic investigation took place.
The inquest heard that Spanish police failed to interview any of the people staying in the two hotels overlooking the lane, which Dr Pomeroy said held up to 200 potential witnesses.
One of the witnesses later found by the Irish police, Mr James Jeffers, said that at around 4 a.m. he saw a man running up the lane, who he later found out to be Mr O'Callaghan, pursued by another "with his arm stretched out and he appeared to have something in his hand".
Mr Jeffers said the second man was within "striking distance" of Mr O'Callaghan.
"I heard what sounded like a shot being fired, I didn't see a gun or a flash. When I heard the thud the first man fell, he hit the ground hard."
He did not see him being hit. A statement from another witness also indicated they heard gun shots. The State Pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy, who carried out a full autopsy, found that he died from head injuries consistent with an accelerated fall forwards, and was probably intoxicated at the time.
PA