A British 35-year-old dad has died after allegedly being knelt on by police and beaten up by bouncers in Spain.
Tobias White-Sansom, a father of two, from Nottingham, was enjoying a family night out that turned to tragedy. He died in hospital five days after the deadly incident on the Magaluf Strip in Majorca.
His brother, Maximillian White, has described how the night went horribly wrong after Tobias visited the Boomerang nightclub last Tuesday. Police say they were called to reports of an assault on a bouncer and the suspect had to be restrained and taken to hospital afterwards, where he died, reported The Mirror.
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But Maximillian, who now lives in Dubai but owns a holiday home in Majorca, claims his brother had gone back inside a VIP area to retrieve his T-shirt, and was told his belongings had been put away. While waiting, he went to get another drink at the bar with his girlfriend before security allegedly "grabbed him from behind".
Maximillian, who wasn't there but heard from witnesses, told the Mirror: "He didn't know who it was and started to resist. Three or four bouncers took him into the corner of the club, took him down and started to beat him really badly. Then they handcuffed him and beat him really bad again.
"They then took him to another area and beat him again. The whole time he was handcuffed and restrained. They knelt on his head, his neck, beat him, took his shoes off and tried to break his toes."
He added: "At the same time they were removing jewellery off him and putting it into their pocket. This ordeal went on for about 12 minutes, according to what the lawyers told me from getting witness statements.
"Police then turned up to grab him, taking him upstairs. He apparently looked semi-unconscious and wasn't holding his own neck with his head rolling.
"Police grabbed him, threw him straight to the floor, put another set of handcuffs on him so he had two sets on, then all eight officers decided to kneel on him while he was panicking. Then a crowd of 50, 60 people gathered with some screaming 'you're going to kill him'. My brother was apparently pleading for his life.
"He went into cardiac arrest and they gave him a tranquilliser. Police started to then beat up tourists and people watching, telling them to disperse while breaking their telephones. The reason the witness response is so great is because five or six of them were assaulted by police to try and get them away."
The family are now fighting for the embassy to have Tobias’ body returned to the UK for further examination. Maximillian paid tribute to his brother, saying he was a "well-loved" father to his two daughters, four-year-old Jasmine and 11-month-old Poppy.
He said: "It's a pain that will never go away. As an elder sibling, you're always told 'look after your brother please and make sure he's okay'.
"For somebody who has always been told to look after their brother I feel like I've failed. As successful as I am and the places I've gotten to, it means nothing to me because I can't look after my little brother. And that's the sad thing. He was a good father, he didn't have a criminal record, he was well-loved around the world and he kept our family together like glue."
Maximillian added: "I am not going to leave here, especially as his body is still here. I will buy the Magaluf strip and I will close it down permanently if I have to, because it's a danger to people. It's not controlled."
Police in Spain said they were called to reports of an assault on a nightclub bouncer. A spokesperson said: "Guardia Civil can confirm there is research ongoing about the facts.
"Guardia Civil received an emergency call about a physical assault with a header by an intoxicated person to the nightclub bouncer. Upon the arrival of the Guardia Civil police, this man was violent and police reduced him to be assisted by medical services. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. There, once while he was being assisted, he was arrested for a crime of injury."
In a statement, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Mallorca and are in contact with the local authorities.” The Mirror has approached Magaluf Club Pass, which runs Boomerang, for comment.
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