Three men have been convicted after a British tourist was gang raped twice in the space of four hours in Benidorm.
They were each jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being found guilty following a trial at a court in Alicante.
The three sentencing judges concluded they had raped the victim twice in the space of four hours – the first time in a park near a football ground in the Costa Blanca holiday resort and the second on waste ground near El Cisne flea market.
They forced themselves on her after approaching her near a pub where she had been drinking. They took her to a secluded area and sexually attacked her.
Semi-conscious
The judges ruled they took advantage of the fact she was under the influence of alcohol. The victim has been described as being in a state of “semi-consciousness” at the time.
She managed to escape after being taken to the flea market and alerted her mum when she got back to her hotel.
The convicted men, a Spaniard and two Moroccans aged between 24 and 34, have not been named ahead of a possible appeal.
Prosecutors said they were seeking prison sentences of just over 12 years for each of the three men when they went on trial in November last year at Alicante’s Audiencia provincial court.
A court official said ahead of their trial: “State prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of twelve years and three months for three men accused of sexually abusing a woman several times.”
He added: “According to prosecutors they started a conversation with the young woman in a pub in Benidorm and, taking advantage of the drunken state she was in, took her to a nearby park where they raped her before driving her to waste ground where they repeated their crimes
“The victim fled the scene as soon as she could but before she did, the men allegedly stole a watch and ring from her valued at €497 (£365).”
Drinks spiked
The three men admitted to having sex with the British tourist but insisted it was consensual.
The victim, who gave evidence from the UK via video link, said she did not have a good recollection of what happened but remembered coming to on the back seat of a car with her clothes unbuttoned and her legs outside of the vehicle after being taken from the unnamed pub after she had left to have a cigarette outside.
She told the court she recalled feeling in pain and seeing “three or four men” near her.
Reports at the time said she blamed the state she was in on the fact her drinks were spiked.
The incident happened in the early hours of Oct 2 2016.
As well as being convicted of the attack, the rapists were also found guilty of theft.
The judges, who delivered their verdicts in a long written ruling, described the victim’s account of what had happened as “credible” despite the fact her memory had been affected by alcohol.
Other evidence, including a 999 call from a witness who saw a woman walking half-naked along a road near to where the second series of rapes took place, was also taken into account.
Last October police arrested two men over the rape of a British tourist near Benidorm in a separate ongoing case.
Detectives revealed the holidaymaker was sexually attacked after agreeing to pay two men who offered to take her back to her hotel in their car for £13 as she waited for a taxi in the famous Costa Blanca resort.
She was allegedly raped at the home of one of the suspects after falling asleep in the back of the vehicle.
The men, both Algerian nationals aged 39 and 44, were remanded in custody pending an ongoing investigation.
One was also being hunted over an alleged violent robbery two days before the attack in Villajoyosa next to Benidorm.
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