A Scottish holidaymaker who was killed in a brutal attack by a Spanish mob died trying to defend his two teenage sons, an inquest has heard. Stephen Mallon, 49, originally from Glasgow but living in Bournemouth, stepped in when an armed gang of about 30 men turned on his 16-year-old twin sons Peter and Carl and their friends outside a bar in Spain.
The mob were armed with knuckledusters, metal bars from parasols, bricks, belts and bottles. During the violent assault, Stephen was hit on the head with a beer bottle before being shoved off a 16ft ledge. He suffered fatal head injuries in the fall, and despite lying motionless, two of the gang continued kicking his body.
Paramedics felt frightened and threatened by the crowd, who at one point tried to overturn their ambulance as they battled to save Stephen. His sons escaped with broken bones, cuts and bruises. Stephen was rushed to hospital and spent 11 days in a coma before the family switched off his life-support machine in June 2009.
Spanish authorities held on to Stephen's body for five years while they investigated his death, delaying the family's ability to hold a funeral. His daughter Jenny, 27, told the inquest: 'The violence my brothers and my dad experienced in this unprovoked attack just took them by shock. My brothers are only here today because they were able to fight for their lives. My dad tried to save them.'
In 2014, ringleader Jose Jimenez Martin, who pushed Stephen off the ledge, was jailed for just three years after being convicted of severe negligent homicide. Yesterday, a coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at an inquest held in Bournemouth. After the inquest, Stephen's widow Teresa said: 'My husband was killed by a mob while trying to protect our twin boys. The seven years from June 2009 were full of pain for myself and our daughter and two sons, which was made so much worse by the appalling misinformation provided by those in authority.'
