Steven Allford, 51, was discovered lying face down on a bench outside Malaga Airport early on October 21 last year after apparently being horribly humiliated
THE alleged killers of a British man found dead on a Malaga Airport bench with ham on his buttocks and his genitals inside an empty tuna can, have been charged with murder.
Prosecutors said they would demand a three-year jail sentence for manslaughter for each of the four suspects - an Irishman and three Finns - when the case reaches trial.
They will also seek a further one-year prison term on a charge of submitting Steven Frank Allford to degrading treatment.
Vagrant Mr Allford, 51, was discovered lying face down on a bench outside Malaga Airport early on October 21 last year.
He had been tied to the bench in a landscaped area near the arrivals lounge and a busy train stop at Malaga Airport and his trousers had been pulled down round his ankles.
A slice of ham had been left on each of his exposed bottom cheeks and his genitals placed inside an empty tuna can.
A post-mortem revealed he choked to death on his own vomit after a heavy drinking session.
Initial fears Mr Allford’s death could be a hate crime based on hobophobia - a fear of vagrants - gave way to a new theory as the investigation advanced that he was targeted in a row over food.
Police were told he had fallouts with other men sleeping rough at Malaga Airport because he was mean about sharing food and drink with them but always expected a portion of theirs.
Fin Kimo Tapani Naivo, described as a “giant”, was arrested days after Mr Allford’s death and remanded in prison on suspicion of his manslaughter after a witness told police he often carried plastic ties similar to the ones used on the dead Brit.
Irishman James O’Bryne, who like the other suspects slept rough in Spain, was arrested in the port city of Algeciras an hour and a half’s drive from Malaga after Spanish police were handed an incriminating video allegedly recorded by the suspects and posted on Facebook.
The prosecution indictment names the four men facing trial as Jussi Petteri Munck, Kimo Tapani Naivo, Mika Tapio Soininem and James O’Byrne.
All are said to have clean police records in Spain apart from 58-year-old O’Bryne, whose birthplace has not been revealed.
The three-page prosecution document says: “Despite the drunken state the man who later died was in, the suspects not only tied him to the bench, something that the accused Munck personally verified, but also filmed the scene and even placed a lit cigarette in his mouth after having put it between his buttocks and placed his naked testicles in an empty can for fun.
“The suspects acted as if they were filming a news report, which they ended up posting on the Facebook page of the accused Soininem.
“When they had laughed as much as they needed, they left Mr Allford to his fate. Because of the drunken state he was in, and because it was practically impossible for him to move due to the plastic ties, he ended up choking to death from his own vomit, something the suspects could have prevented by simply making a call so Mr Allford received medical assistance.”
The type of manslaughter the four suspects are accused of is regarded as “serious” under the Spanish penal code.
No date for the trial has yet been set.
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