Man Found Dead in Ibiza Was Hit Over Head With Glass Bottle

Following investigations, an inquest has heard a British man found dead in Ibiza was hit over the head with a glass bottle.

FOLLOWING investigations, an inquest has heard a British man found dead in Ibiza was hit over the head with a glass bottle whilst on a lads holiday. The 24-year-old man, Anwaar Lahrichi-Greenwood, was found dead in the sea wearing only his socks on the last day of his holiday in San Antonio, Ibiza, in 2018. Following investigations and an inquest yesterday, May 19, it has been announced that he was repeatedly struck over the head with a glass bottle. He was discovered two days after he went missing.
The Spanish Police had ruled the death as misadventure but the victims family accused police of “failing to investigate” and failing to secure vital evidence, including CCTV footage. The family of the deceased then carried out their own investigations and found that he was attacked at around 5am on the San Antonio promenade. They offered witnesses €5,000 to come forward with any information.
The court heard that witnesses saw Lahrichi-Greenwood, from London, being hit at least twice with a glass bottle after a night out, in which he refused treatment from paramedics and left the scene.
Tyler Jules-Nelson, from Manchester, said in a police statement taken in April 2021: “We saw Anwaar walk to three men and began chatting to them, we later found out they were not English.
“They were chatting, I’m not sure what triggered it but one of the Spanish men picked up a bottle and began striking him over the head, on the third strike it broke.”
Jude Lanchin, solicitor for the family said yesterday: “There was a 36-hour gap between when he was last seen at approximately 5am on Saturday and he wasn’t found until Sunday morning at around 7am. That is obviously a really significant number of hours.
“As we understood from the police investigation in Spain, not all CCTV was checked, this was part of the problem and why the family had to step in from early days.
“They put up posters, leafletted in an attempt to see if anyone would come forward to try and plug that very long gap of where he had gone, had he got into another altercation?”
The lack of “crucial evidence” led to an open verdict from the coroner as there was no evidence of how or why the deceased entered the sea.
Coroner Simon Walker said: “In these circumstances, we simply don’t know, there is no evidence to suggest how he entered the water or when he did so, there is evidence that those who received blows to the head and may find themselves concussed entered the water would have been at a higher risk of drowning.
“Having said that there is no evidence to suggest how he entered the water or when he did so.
“The only conclusion, in this case, can be an open conclusion.”
Following the inquest, Anwaar’s cousin Syan Angol said: “This has been the hardest three years of my life.
“For me and my family, it is a relief that we’ve got to this point after nearly three years of an ongoing battle, going back and forth to Ibiza, trying to get some sort of justice.
“We feel the open verdict is the right one because there are questions remaining over what happened to him, but finally we have closure.
“We want to honour Anwaar and his story, and we hope no other families have to go through this kind of tragedy.”
The family may never know the exact sequence of events that led to the tragic death.