- Police saw evidence that showed an employee of the club strangled the victim
Police have arrested a man they believe killed a British tourist with a chokehold, a technique used in martial arts, near a nightclub in Gran Canaria.
It was initially thought that the 47-year-old victim had died of a heart attack after drug use.
But detectives announced today that the incident is being treated as a homicide. On July 29, they arrested a 32-year-old suspect on suspicion of murder using the martial arts chokehold known as Mata Leao.
According to reliable sources, the incident took place in the early morning of July 27 in a nightclub called Discoteca Chic in the resort of Playa del Ingles in the south of Gran Canaria.
A spokesman for the national police in San Bartolome de Tirajana said they had reviewed CCTV footage which showed a club employee grabbing the victim by the neck before he fell to the ground and was “immobilised”.
General view of Playa de Ingles in Gran Canaria, near the spot where a dead man was found
A busy street in Maspalomas, Playa del Ingles in 2023. Police saw footage showing an employee strangling a man outside a club in the area, they said.
Police found the victim “lying lifeless on the ground” near an unmarked nightspot in Playa del Ingles in the early morning of July 27.
Several police units responded to the call, along with other emergency services.
“Upon arrival, they confirmed the death of the man, an English tourist, and cordoned off the area,” the statement said.
Investigators spoke to witnesses and staff, as well as friends and the victim’s partner.
‘The initial information we received indicated that the dead man had suffered a heart attack because, according to his friends, he had taken drugs that night.
However, marks were found on his neck and his body was taken to the island’s Institute of Forensic Medicine for further examination.
‘Several witnesses told police they saw one of the staff members apply a chokehold, called a Mata leao, to the man because the British man he was applying the chokehold to was very agitated.
‘When he could no longer move, he collapsed to the ground.’
Police have since analyzed surveillance cameras and collected evidence which they say shows a nightclub employee “grabbed the victim by the neck before he fell to the ground.”
The forensic report confirmed that asphyxiation was the cause of death.
Because there was a risk that the suspect would flee, a search was started. When the suspect was found, he was immediately arrested.
‘He was then transferred to a local prison on the orders of an investigating judge.’
The incident will be further investigated today.
The club doesn’t reopen until Saturday and no one was available today.