NEWS: A Death in Spain

By MARK McLAUGHLIN
Edinburgh Evening News
9 October 2009

THE family of a young father who was killed by a car in Spain are demanding a fresh inquiry following evidence that he may have been attacked and robbed before his death.

Moredun roofer Thomas Patterson, 21, was killed on a dual carriageway near the coast at Playa Flamenca, in Alicante, in July.

Police ruled that Mr Patterson, father of an 18-month-old son, Thomas James, was killed in an accident involving a single driver, who was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Mr Patterson's mother, Agnes, 52, wants Spanish police to reinvestigate the case, but fears they will never discover the truth of what happened that night.

The family are now backing calls by one of Scotland's most senior judges, former Lord President Lord Cullen, recommending that inquiries are held in Scotland into the deaths of Scots abroad.

Mrs Patterson said today: "The Spanish police just dismissed my son as another British lager lout who died from acting like an idiot abroad.

"When they brought his body home, it was a mess. The undertaker said it looked like he had been hit by a truck going at 100mph, rather than a single car obeying the speed limit.

"However, he had scratches on his knuckles that looked like he had been fighting.

"He also had quite a bit of money on him before he died, following a big win at the bookies that afternoon.

"He should have still had about ¤300 on him, but when police recovered his body, all they found on him were two telephone numbers, for me and his girlfriend Allana."

She added: "We only want to get to the bottom of this so we can lay our boy to rest."

Friends who were with former junior boxing champion Mr Patterson, who was known both as Tam and Top Cat, reported seeing him arguing with an angry mob shortly before he disappeared. He had been just hours into a sunshine break with friends at the time.

He was found at 3:20am on 17 July near the Villa Martin Roundabout, in the coastal region of La Zenia, about a mile from where he had been drinking.

Mrs Patterson is upset that the question of her son's assault was never investigated, and that the driver involved was not breathalysed or questioned in more detail about how Thomas ended up on the road.

A Guardia Civil spokesman said that the driver was not arrested because the victim had crossed the road in an area where pedestrians were banned and he also stopped to help. However, they have yet to explain why Mr Patterson's companions were not interviewed, and why the alleged assault and robbery were never investigated.

Lord Cullen this week recommended an extension to the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act to empower the Lord Advocate to apply for an FAI into Scottish deaths abroad.

Mrs Patterson added: "If he was killed in similar circumstances in Scotland, the police would have questioned his companions, breathalysed the driver and looked at all of the circumstances leading up to the death, but the Spanish just wrote him off as a drunken lout.

"International FAIs are the only way to make sure that the deaths of Scottish people get investigated properly, wherever they are in the world."

Andrew Mackenzie, secretary to the Review of Fatal Accident Inquiry Legislation, said he could not comment on individual cases.

But he said: "In his report, he recommended that the Lord Advocate should have power to apply for an FAI into the deaths of persons normally resident in Scotland where the body is repatriated to Scotland.

"In reaching a decision, the Lord Advocate would require to consider, for example, whether there had been circumstances that called for investigation, whether there had been a satisfactory investigation and whether there was a prospect of an FAI yielding significant findings."

DIVERSION

THE family of Thomas Patterson told how their grief was multiplied when his body ended up being sent to Birmingham instead of Edinburgh.

Relatives had spent £4,500 paying to bring his body home and were hit with a further bill because of the diversion.

Mum Agnes said the mix-up had added "insult to injury". "His cousins had already paid to bring him home because he was travelling without insurance.

"We had to pay the Edinburgh undertaker £500 to collect him, and then we got a phone call from Spain demanding another 800 euros for sending him to Birmingham.

"I refused to pay them and they haven't been in touch since."