Three men have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms for the bizarre killing of 51 year old Steven Allford in Malaga.
Allford - a homeless man living in the Spanish city - was found dead on October 21st 2016 tied to a bench outside Malaga Airport with his trousers around his ankles.
Two pieces of ham had been placed on his buttocks and his testicles had been placed inside a can of tuna. A post mortem found that he had consumed a lot of alcohol and choked on his own vomit but could not have moved to stop this because he was tied down.
Two Finnish men, Jussi Petteri Munck and Mika Tapio Soininem, and Irishman James O'Byrne were sentenced to 2 years and 6 months for their crimes, which included a separate charge for degrading treatment of the victim.
O'Byrne was arrested after footage of the whole event was handed to the Spanish police.
All three men were also homeless and the crime is thought to have stemmed from an argument about food. Allford, who had only been in Spain for about a week before his death, was apparently targeted for being stingy about sharing food and drink with the others.
In his ruling, Judge Santiago Calvo Cervera said: "They didn't just tie him to the bench, something which Mr Munck checked had been done, but they filmed Mr Allford and were also laughing about his temporary helplessness.
"They ended up putting a lit cigarette in his mouth after having put it in his buttocks and introduced his naked testicles into an empty tuna can.
"They acted as if they were narrating a news report and posted the video on to the Facebook of Soininem, the person who filmed what was happening.
He continued: "When they had had a good laugh, they left Mr Allford to his fate. Because of his drunkenness, and because of the fact it was almost impossible for him to move because of the plastic ties, he would end up dying after choking on his own vomit, something the accused could have easily avoided with a call to make sure Mr Allford received medical attention."
Very little information is known about what led Allford to Spain, but it is known that he had previously served prison sentences in France and Spain.
A source close to the case told The Mirror: "The images show the victim was alive when the humiliation began.
"Steven was tied up and in the same position he was found in hours later in the footage, lying face-down on the bench, but he could be seen moving his head slightly.
"The video was posted briefly on Facebook and shared by a Finnish user who later took it down, but only after police in Finland had got hold of it and downloaded it so they could pass it on to counterparts in Spain.
"It was bombshell stuff and key to the investigation and prosecution."
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Words: GERARD COUZENS
Featured Image Credit: Solarpix.comTopics: World News, News, Spain, Homeless