Two British tourists have appeared in court in Alicante charged with the rape of girl in a Benidorm holiday apartment in 2018.
One of the defendants is alleged to have inserted his fist or part of his hand into the girls’ vagina causing it to tear, with the subsequent loss of a great deal of blood.
However the Provincial Court acquitted one of the men but sentenced the other four years and three months in jail. The convicted man will also have to compensate the victim with a payment of 6,000 euros.
The incident occurred in June 2018 in Benidorm. The two defendants, aged 23 and 26, were spending a few days on holiday in the town when they met a group of British girls in a bar.
They were talking, dancing and drinking alcohol, and at three in the morning the two defendants left with one of the girls for an apartment she shared with some friends.
Once in the apartment they carried a mattress to the balcony where one of the accused and the young woman had sex. The judge said that there is no record that the other defendant practiced sex with her or that he took any part in the relationship, although he was present and he knew what they were doing.
The Prosecutor’s Office initially requested two sentences of 14 years in prison although during the trial it reduced them to 9 years for one of the men and 7 for the other. However the court did not consider it proven that the victim was opposed to the sexual intercourse in which she was injured.
The ruling adds that in the course of “sexual practices” the man introduced his fist or part of his hand into the vagina, which caused the young woman pain and although she asked him to stop the defendant did not do so immediately, but only when he saw that the girl was bleeding heavily.
The evidence also read out in court said that the girl had sexual relations with another man on the day of the events or the day before, as there were traces of semen in her panties that did not belong to either of the defendants.
As such the Court acquitted one of the two young tourists and has sentenced the other four years and three months in jail for a crime of sexual abuse and other injuries by causing a tear in the vagina.
The defense attorney for the two defendants, Jorge Martínez Navas, said that although was “very satisfied” with the ruling, considering that the initial request of the Prosecutor’s Office was 14 years in prison for each of the two defendants, he is nevertheless going to appeal.
