Brit tourist dies after being ‘put in martial arts chokehold while on night out in Gran Canaria’
A BRIT tourist has died after being put in
POLICE have arrested a man over the death of a British tourist in Gran Canaria.
It was initially thought the victim had died of a heart attack after consuming drugs.
But detectives revealed today the incident was being treated as a homicide and they had arrested a 47-year-old suspect on suspicion of killing him with the martial arts chokehold known as Mata leao.
The incident occurred at an unnamed nightspot in the southern Gran Canaria resort of Playa del Ingles in the early hours of July 27.
A spokesman for National Police in San Bartolome de Tirajana said: “Officers have arrested a 47-year-old man who has no police record as the suspected author of a crime of homicide.
“In the early hours of July 27 an emergency call was received saying a person was lying lifeless on the ground near a nightspot in Playa del Ingles.
“Several police units responded along with other emergency services.
“Once they were there, they confirmed the death of the man, an English tourist, and cordoned off the area.
“Investigators began to gather information from witnesses and staff as well as friends and the partner of the dead man.
“The initial information received pointed towards the dead man suffering a heart attack as according to his friends, he had consumed drugs that night.
“However marks were observed on his neck and his body was transported to the island’s Institute of Forensic Medicine for further analysis.
“Several witnesses told police they had seen how one of the members of staff had carried out a chokehold known as a Mata leao because the British man he performed it on was very agitated.
“When he was immobilised he collapsed on the ground.
“CCTV cameras were then analysed and evidence obtained showing an employee of the nightspot grabbing the victim by the neck before he fell to the floor.
“The forensic report corroborated the cause of death as asphyxia.
“Given the risk the suspected killer could abscond, a search operation was put in place and once he was located the suspect was immediately arrested.
“He was subsequently remanded to a local jail on the orders of an investigating magistrate.”
A probe into the incident was ongoing today.