SPANISH police have yet to say whether a man from Northampton who stands accused of fatally stabbing another Brit during a bar brawl in Majorca is to be charged with murder.
Thomas Swannell, aged 44, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning by police on the Balearic island following the alleged attack in a bar in Magaluf.
Swannell, a scaffolding firm boss, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing Gary Vigors, aged 41, from Essex, in the neck with a bottle. He was on an annual cricket tour with Finedon Dolben Cricket Club.
He was due to appear in court in Majorca yesterday.
Eyewitnesses have spoken about how they found Mr Vigors, a father-of-one, lying on the side of the road following an incident at the popular Cafe Plaza bar, at around 2.20am.
Bar staff tried to resuscitate him for several minutes before an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital. He was later pronounced dead by paramedics.
It has also emerged the two men did not know each other and were with different groups in Majorca.
Finedon Dolben Cricket Club officials have confirmed Swannell has been part of the club “for a little while” and had taken on the responsibility as one of the club’s sponsors this year.
Stewart Miller, club chairman, said: “Thomas Swannell has been part of the club for a little while, then as a result he offered to sponsor a few things for us this year. We have many, many sponsors who sponsor anything from a cricket ball to a shirt.”
Mr Miller said that most of the club members of the tour returned as planned yesterday afternoon.
He added: “We are absolutely devastated and I’m sure that everyone would have been glad to get back to their families. It was very much a family touch with everyone from pensioners to young players, it wasn’t a bunch of lads on their own. The bulk of the people travelling are from Finedon and I would imagine it has been horrendous for all of them.”
A spokesman at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office last night confirmed they were aware a British man had been arrested following the incident in Majorca. The Chron attempted to speak to family members at Mr Swannell’s £500,000 home yesterday but they declined.
Via: www.northamptonchron.co.uk
