police in tenerife (Image: Getty)
A 73-year-old British woman has been brutally raped, beaten and robbed while on holiday in the south of Tenerife.
Her attacker climbed a 6-feet high wall to enter her holiday apartment and then physically and sexually assaulted her. He then threatened her and stole money, jewelery and her keys. The valuables were kept in a small safe inside a cupboard.
The shocking crime took place eight years ago but has only now come to light as a result of a trial on the island.
The man responsible for the rape that took place on May 13, 2018, has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
The conviction was based on conclusive DNA analysis and security camera recordings in which the victim identified him.
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The defense attorney requested his client’s acquittal after describing the biological testing as a “peripheral element” and sought to impose a criminal mitigating circumstance for unreasonable delay.
However, medical experts testified to the existence of various wounds and injuries on the woman, fully consistent with the description of the facts. “There is a trillion times greater probability that the DNA belongs to the accused than to anyone else,” he said.
The British woman tragically died seven months after the attack, but she had already testified against the man.
The court was told he spent long periods of time in Tenerife to escape the UK weather. His apartment was in the southern resort of Arona.
The victim, who suffers from COPD, had to endure sexual harassment and beating for about two hours and was admitted to a hospital in Santa Cruz.
She told the police that her attacker stopped only after opening the safe where she had kept money and some jewellery. He terrorized her so much that she was forced to tell him the code. She also told police that the man showed no signs of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The woman died in January 2019. Although the causes of her death were not linked to the attack, her daughter testified at the trial that her health had deteriorated after the beating and rape.
Delays in the case included a hearing where the defendant failed to arrive in Tenerife from the Spanish mainland, claiming he had lost his passport and was unable to travel. Another hearing was adjourned after no agreement could be reached on any of the petitions.
The 32-year-old Spanish man claimed he had nothing to do with the attack, although he was working on the island at the time. He said he left Tenerife the next day because he had to work in hotels and was not going to run away.
He was arrested in Valencia two months after the attack. He was captured on a CCTV camera installed in the residential complex and was also identified by a woman whom he caught nearby on the same day. He elaborated on the clothes he wore and he was seen on social media with the exact same ripped white trousers, orange sweatshirt and white T-shirt.
The attacker has been ordered to pay 33,500 euros to the woman’s heirs and return the jewellery. Compensation may be available in future also.
