Suicide
Images captured the moment security guards wrestled a teenage girl to the ground in a bid to stop
her plunging 65ft to her death in an apparent suicide pact.
A security guard hurled himself on top of the 14-year-old when she experienced a ‘moment’s
doubt’ after her school friend fell from the roof of the of El Corte Ingles shopping centre in Puerto
Banus
Moments earlier her friend, who has been named locally as 16-year-old Richard Fitzsimons, died
after he ‘jumped’ from the top of the building.
The drama happened just before midday on Friday.
The pair attended the Aloha College in Marbella.
They raised the alarm after the girl posted an Instagram message which said: ‘It’s a dirty world
that I don’t want to live in anymore.’
The couple reportedly told friends and family that they planned to go shopping at the store that
day before Richard fell to his death.
tributes have been left outside the shopping centre.
Police have already said that although the incident is still under investigation, they are treating the
British boy’s death as a suicide.
Credit Card Fraud
Spanish police say they have busted a crime ring that cloned credit cards and was headed by a
man who had previously been found guilty of helping finance the 9 – 11 attacks.
Police said they have arrested 19 people, including a 49-year-old Algerian man who had served a
prison sentence in Spain for using cloned credit cards to help fund the 2001 attacks in the U.S.
Police would not reveal the name of the individual.
All 19 suspected members of the ring were arrested in Madrid.
The group spent 500,000 euros on the fake credit cards it made by cloning authentic cards before
the ring was broken up, according to police.
Flood Aid
SPAIN’S government has declared areas of Malaga, Sevilla and Cadiz disaster zones following last
month’s flash floods.
According to the Insurance Compensation Consortium, there is set to be more than 5,200 claims
across Malaga alone, with more than €32 million in damages inflicted on the province.
The declaration means there will be ‘targeted aid’ from Madrid for the areas affected by the floods,
in particular.
Catalan Leaders
Spanish prosecutors have called for Catalan separatist leaders to be jailed for up to 25 years on
charges of rebellion or misuse of public funds over last year’s failed secession bid.
In a statement ahead of an upcoming Supreme Court trial, the prosecution service said it was
seeking prison sentences against 12 Catalan leaders ranging from seven to 25 years, the longest
being sought for former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras.
But in a sign Spain’s socialist government disagreed, the attorney general’s office announced it
would ask for just 12 years jail for Junqueras, accusing him of sedition and misuse of public funds
rather than the more serious charge of rebellion.
The sensitive trial is expected to start in early 2019.