Guardia Civil officers investigating the death of a 49 year old British man following a brawl outside a bar in Competa are now seemingly making some headway.
Ten people have so far been identified as having been involved in the mass brawl, although only some of these may have had any direct involvement in the injuries caused to the deceased.
The brawl took place in the early hours of June 5th outside the pub La Estrella in avenida de la Constitución, close to the Hotel Balcón de Cómpeta. The fight, involving a number of British and Spanish people, ended when the man fell, or was pushed, from a five metre high wall and suffered serious head injuries.
For twelve days he lay in a coma at the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga and then on Wednesday evening, June 17th, he died.
The police investigation has been hampered by a lack of witnesses willing to come forward and a general reluctance by the people of Competa to become involved in any way with the events of that fateful night.
An autopsy carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML), which took an entire morning due to the complexities of the case, revealed that the most serious injury suffered by the British man, and which eventually led to his death, was severe head injury caused by a fall of five metres from the wall close to the bar La Estrella.
The severe blow to the head caused a brain hemorrhage which had to be treated surgically. The body also displayed various bruises to the arms and trunk, these being compatible with involvement in a brawl.
On the question of whether the man was pushed from the wall or fell during the fight, this is still far from clear as versions of the event are conflicting.
As to how the fight actually started, there does seem to be general consensus.
Two 16 year old youths, the son and nephew of the deceased, were flirting with some local girls when the ex-boyfriend of one of the girls became jealous and began to taunt them and hurl insults. A fight started, at which point the father intervened in defense of the two youths. The mood then became heated and sparked a mass brawl.
The deceased, a regular visitor to Competa, had gone to the bar to celebrate the birthday of one of his friends.