Thu, 14 May 11:00 2009

Guilty of murder: Jury convicts man who stabbed a teenager to death

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More News from the Costa del Sol

Scene of the crime: Benalmadena’s 24-hour square.

Court is told how a 22-year-old killed a Mijas teenager outside the ‘Discoteca Kiu’, in 2007
BY ALFREDO BLOY
THE jury in the trial of a 22-year-old man, accused of the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Jose Pedro Fernandez outside a Benalmadena nightclub in 2007, have delivered a guilty verdict. The magistrate who has heard this case must now decide upon the appropriate prison sentence, which could be as much as 20 years. The convicted murderer will also have to pay 180,000 euros in compensation to the victim’s family.
The incident from which the prosecution arose occurred at 6am on Sunday, November 18, 2007, outside the popular ‘Kiu’ nightclub in Benalmadena’s Plaza Solymar, known locally as ‘24-hour square’. Shortly after Jose Pedro left the club with a female friend, he was attacked by two youths. The older of the two attackers stabbed him in the heart with a knife and, by the time an ambulance arrived, forty minutes later, Jose Pedro had died in a pool of blood.
The attackers escaped from the scene in a car but were involved in a traffic accident a short time later and arrested by officers of Benalmadena Local Police who, when they attended the scene of the collision, realised the pair matched the description of the attackers, which had been circulated.
The testimony provided by the victim’s female friend proved to be key in convincing the jury of the guilt of the 22-year-old. Seven out of the nine jurors accepted her version of the events of that fateful night in Benalmadena. And, although the accused maintained, throughout the trial, that he had nothing to do with the attack and even claimed that he had heard that two Moroccans were responsible, she positively identified him in court as the attacker.
When the jury delivered their guilty verdict to a tense court-room, packed with police officers as well as the families of the accused and the victim, the 22-year-old broke down in tears.
The second male who was involved in the attack was absolved in November last year, due to the fact that he was a juvenile at the time of the incident. He was just a few hours away from turning 18 when the murder was committed. The prosecution has appealed against this decision, as he was freed without a trial. After his arrest he spent nine months in a juvenile detention centre but, in August, authorities were forced to release him, as the law dictates that a minor in these circumstances can only be detained for a maximum period of nine months.
After the hearing, the victim’s father said “I hope young people will think twice before taking a knife out on to the streets.” In tears he added, “At least they can visit him whenever they want to in prison, but we have to go to the cemetery to visit our son. We are going there now to tell Jose Pedro that, at last, justice has been served and that he will always be with us, in our hearts.”
The father of the convicted man also expressed his sorrow, telling reporters, “when something like this happens, two families are broken up.”

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