Alicante Court has kept the case open for conviction following an armed attack on a man in Benidorm. After four defendants pleaded guilty and the Prosecutor’s Office reduced the charge, the court initially sought a 50-year prison term. Each of the four defendants received 12.5 years in prison, with additional penalties ranging from one to two years and three months. The shooting occurred in 2018 on Mallorca Street, a area locally referred to as the “guiri region.” The incident left three people injured, and authorities linked the clash to an attempted showdown.
The Prosecutor’s Office, along with a special prosecutor and the defense team led by attorneys Francisco Miguel Galiana Botella, Alejandro Dapena, Luis Chabaneix, and José Esteve Villaescusa, shifted the legal framing on Monday. They changed the original charge of attempted murder and classified the events as an assault, following an agreement reached under Article 768 of the penal code. The change reflects a negotiated outcome between the prosecution and defense, aiming to resolve the case without a full trial to determine intent to kill.
Before the trial commenced, once compensation to the victims had been recorded, the prosecutor adjusted the accusation again by applying mitigating circumstances, including the repair of damage and consideration for any excessive delays in the proceedings.
in favor of expulsion
The injured man, who sustained two gunshot wounds, appeared at the hearing to testify that he had received compensation and that he would feel safer if the shooter were punished. He was eventually expelled from the country. The main defendant, who agreed to a sentence of two years and three months in prison and a fine of 180 euros, apologized to the victim and to his wife. An attorney for the defense, Francisco Miguel Galiana Botella, urged the court to replace the sentence with a dismissal, a proposal that the prosecution did not oppose.
The 2018 events occurred around 21:00 on July 4 on Mallorca Street in Benidorm. The defendants allegedly argued to intimidate the victim, triggering a brawl in which several people joined in with bottles and blunt objects. One of the participants, feeling caught in a perilous situation, produced a firearm and handed it to another defendant. A few shots were fired at the ground, and the weapon’s recoil struck the victim. The prosecutors initially maintained that killing was their intent, but later the case evolved through negotiations and charge modifications.