A Spanish man has been remanded in custody over the brutal murder of a homeless Irishman on the Costa del Sol in Spain.
The victim, who was homeless and in his 40s, was punched to death after obstructing an attempt to steal his belongings while sleeping on a Malaga beach.
Officials said he had been sleeping in La Malagueta, which is a busy tourist area during daylight hours but has become a place where homeless people gather at night.
The alarm was raised at around 6.30 am when a jogger spotted a body lying on the beach, with a large amount of blood on the sand beside it.
Cops had also received reports of shouting and cries for help a short time beforehand.
The suspect, 37, was arrested at his home at around 7 pm that evening.
It is believed police tracked him via CCTV and recovered clothing covered in the blood of his victim.
The incident happened on March 12, but details of the Irishman’s nationality are only emerging now. It’s believed he was originally from Cork and had such severe head injuries that officers initially believed he had been battered with a rock.
However, a postmortem revealed that he had been punched and kicked to death.
Police were able to determine the victim was a homeless man after interviewing staff at a supermarket near the beach, who had seen him in the locality. Documentation found in his belongings indicated he may be Irish.
However, authorities had to submit the dead man’s fingerprints to Interpol before receiving positive confirmation of his identity.
They are currently attempting to contact relatives in a bid to repatriate his remains.
The suspect appeared before a judge three days after the killing.
News courtesy: Irish mirror