Joshua Parfitt
FIVE Man United football fans accused of a drunken rampage in Spain last year have been arrested after flying back to the country for a holiday.
The Brits were nabbed by National Police at Alicante-Elche Airport as they arrived on the Costa Blanca on a flight from Manchester.
A court in Seville issued the warrants after the five failed to attend court over damage they allegedly committed in February 2018, when Man United played a Champions League tie in the city.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “National Police have arrested five British men at Alicante-Elche Airport after they arrived on a flight from Manchester. They are aged 30 to 32.
“There was a warrant out for their arrests, which had been issued by a court in Seville after they failed to turn up for a trial after they were accused of public disorder offences, criminal damage and assaulting police which they allegedly committed in Seville in February last year.
“The suspects were accused of throwing stones against the front of a hotel causing damage to it.
“Before being arrested they allegedly pushed a number of motorbikes parked in the vicinity to the ground.
“After a chase on foot through the streets of Seville, police managed to arrest them. When they were arrested they resisted and damaged a police vehicle.
“When they failed to attend their trial, a court in Seville issued arrest warrants at the start of last month ordering police to detain the five suspects.
“They were held as they touched down on Spanish soil and have been handed over to the judiciary so the courts can decide the next move.”
They are understood to have been bailed without any travel restrictions but ordered to turn up for their trial after the first time they were arrested, according to The Sun.
In February last year when they were held, a Seville town hall spokesman said: “The police tried to calm them down but were surrounded by the hooligans who began to insult the officers and push them.”
He also revealed the fifth suspect – held after police discovered where the Brits were staying and put a watch on their accommodation – had broken a police car windscreen after jumping on the vehicle in his bid to escape arrest.
