Laurence Dollimore
THREE men have been jailed after admitting to the manslaughter of a British man found dead on a Malaga airport bench.
James O’Byrne, 59, from Ireland, was convicted of killing Steven Allford, 51, alongside two Finnish men, Jussi Petteri Munck, 41 and Mika Tapio Soininem, 48.
All three confessed to the charge after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors.
Allford was found on a Malaga airport bench with his testicles shoved in a tuna can and ham placed on his buttocks in October last year.
State prosecutors were seeking jail sentences of three years for manslaughter for each of the three men ahead of trial.
They were also seeking a further one-year prison term on a charge of submitting Allford to degrading treatment.
It was later discovered the Londoner had choked to death on his own vomit after a heavy drinking session.
A post-mortem revealed he choked to death on his own vomit after a heavy drinking session.
Police had thought he was murdered as part of a hate crime because he was homeless.
Police were told he had regular arguments with other homeless people at Malaga Airport as he never shared his but always expected some of theirs.
O’Byrne, who was also homeless in Spain, was arrested in Algeciras after police discovered incriminating video recorded by one of the suspects and posted on Facebook.
The judge said it had been proved the accused tied Allford to the bench despite being extremely drunk
He added: “They didn’t just tie him to the bench, something which Mr Munck checked had been done, but they filmed Mr Allford and were also laughing about his temporary helplessness.
“They ended up putting a lit cigarette in his mouth after having put it in his buttocks and introduced his naked testicles into an empty tuna can.
“They acted as if they were narrating a news report and posted the video on to the Facebook of Soininem, the person who filmed what was happening.
“When they had had a good laugh, they left Mr Allford to his fate.
“Because of his drunkenness, and because of the fact it was almost impossible for him to move because of the plastic ties, he would end up dying after choking on his own vomit, something the accused could have easily avoided with a call to make sure Mr Allford received medical attention.”
