Kirsty Maxwell's dad rages at 'farcical' Benidorm cops as five suspects CLEARED over balcony plunge death
THE family of a bank worker who died in a Benidorm balcony fall today said they feel sickened by the "farcical" police probe into the tragedy.
They spoke out hours after it was revealed the five men who were being investigated over the death of Kirsty Maxwell have been told they are now in the clear.
A Spanish judge ruled there is “no evidence” pointing to their involvement in the 27-year-old's death, adding the investigation will now be provisionally shelved.
Kirsty's family has now revealed they feel "physically sick" with the way the investigation has been handled and feel robbed of justice.
Dad Brian Curry accused local police officers of incompetence in an interview with the Daily Record today.
He said: “The police investigation was farcical from the start and the sheer incompetence left us angry and frustrated."
Mr Curry also accused the Spanish police and judiciary of acting in a way “that has been demeaning not just to us but to Kirsty.”
Her family believe a “catalogue of errors” and missed opportunities in the investigation mean they may now never know the circumstances leading to her death.
But he gave no indication, publicly at least, about whether they planned to appeal.
The men – Joseph Graham, Ricky Gammon, Anthony Holehouse, Callum Northridge and Daniel Bailey – were given the news yesterday by their lawyer.
Their lawyer Roberto Sanchez said: “They all know about the judge’s decision and are very happy with it. It confirms what they have said from the start.”
They were the last people to see Scot Kirsty alive after she walked into their tenth-floor room at Apartamentos Payma in Benidorm’s Little England area just before 8am on April 29, 2017.
The bank worker plunged to her death moments later in circumstances her family described as “sinister and suspicious.”
The five, from the Nottingham area, were placed under formal investigation on suspicion of homicide, although they were all allowed to return to the UK after being questioned.
The dramatic decision was taken despite a campaign by Kirsty’s family to “get justice” over her death after her grieving husband insisted “something dark” had happened in apartment 10E.
However, Judge Ana Isabel Garcia-Galbis stated in her ruling: “There is no evidence of the participation of the men investigated in the death of the victim.”
Highlighting the fact tests had shown Kirsty was “seriously affected” by the alcohol she had drunk the night before her death during a hen night out with friends and could have caused her problems including “blurred vision, loss of balance and emotional instability”.
She added: “Conclusions different to those of the police at the time about the accidental dynamic of the death have not been able to be reached.”
Brian and Denise Curry and her husband Adam Maxwell are expected to appeal the judge's decision, confirmed in a short one-and-a-half page ruling which left questions unanswered.
They have been given three days to lodge an appeal with the investigating judge although they are expected to waive that right and try to overturn the ruling at a higher regional court.
The writing was on the wall for Kirsty’s family after they were hit with a quadruple whammy in the run-up to the second anniversary of her death.
The judge leading the criminal probe rejected four separate new requests from their Spanish lawyer and hinted an at imminent ruling on the case.
They included attempts by the family to get the judge to help them track down potential witnesses staying on the top floors of the Hotel Presidente opposite the block Kirsty died at.
The family’s lawyer also made a failed bid to get the judge to allow an architect to analyse the inside of the apartment Kirsty plunged from to complement a study by biomechanics expert Mike Brown who appeared in a BBC documentary last year called ‘Killed Abroad.’
Kirsty’s family have been supported by West Lothian MSP Angela Constance, who told PM Boris Johnson in a letter in July: “Much more needs to be done to support the families of loved ones killed abroad.”
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