Brit woman plunges 60ft to death on holiday island as police issue alert
Hospital sources said today she had died in the evening, just hours after being admitted to hospital.
Insiders close to the investigation confirmed they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident, and said it was not being treated as a crime.
Detectives have spoken with witnesses who saw the woman fall.
It was not immediately clear today if she was on holiday in Majorca or lived locally.
The spot where the tragedy took place, known as Mirador es Jonquet in Spanish, is described in travel reviews as a captivating scenic spot that beckons visitors with stunning vistas and a tranquil atmosphere.
The area around it is popular with people enjoying leisurely strolls who include many tourists.
Just last month, a British cyclist died while competing in a famous amateur race in Majorca.
Tributes were paid to Phillip Williams, 39, who died after a fall on April 26 despite attempts by emergency medical responders to save him.
He suffered his accident on the road between Esporles and Valldemosa as he took part in the gruelling Mallorca 312 event which this year featured the likes of former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Eden Hazard.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Major boost for ex-polo playing soldier who has served 37 years for a murder he claims he did NOT commit as watchdog refers conviction to Court of Appeal - after Mail exposed key 'failures' in prosecution case
A former polo-playing landowner who has spent 37 years in prison for a brutal murder which may never have happened has been granted an appeal after the Daily Mail exposed key failures in the prosecution case. Clive Freeman has repeatedly denied he was responsible for the death of vagrant Alexander Hardie in London in 1988, but was convicted during an Old Bailey trial dubbed 'the gentleman and the tramp' the following year. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) today ordered the case be referred to the Court of Appeal, after this newspaper cast serious doubt over the largely circumstantial evidence used against the Zimbabwean national, a former elite soldier. It is understood the decision centres on allegedly flawed pathology evidence. Mr Freeman's spokesman, Tony Thompson, broke news of the stunning development in a highly emotional meeting at Leyhill Prison near Gloucester this morning. He told the Mail: 'He put his arms around me. He was ecstatic after 37 years of frustration and disappointment.' He added: 'It was an emotional moment when I looked into his eyes across the small prison table and told him he now has a chance to finally clear his name and return to see his family in Africa - a family he has not seen since the 1980s.' And Mr Thompson praised this newspaper, and its fearless Associate Editor Stephen Wright, for helping shine a light on the tranche of inconsistencies used to convict Mr Freeman, 82, who is seriously ill in prison with adavanced prostate cancer. He said: 'Clive Freeman's fight for justice demonstrates the importance of good investigative journalism. I, and Clive Freeman, will be forever grateful to Stephen Wright, Associate Editor of the Daily Mail, for taking on the case when most of the mainstream media ignored it. 'Stephen exposed grave doubts about the safety of Clive's conviction in a series of major articles in the Daily Mail, putting pressure on the CCRC to refer the case to the Court of Appeal. 'Without a public voice, Clive would inevitably have spent the rest of his days rotting in jail, for refusing to admit to a crime that he did not commit and one that did not happen.' He added: 'Clive Freeman's case is likely to become one of the most infamous miscarriage of justice cases in modern British legal history. He will be known as the man who spent almost forty years in British prisons for a crime that never happened.' Father-of-three Mr Freeman now faces having his case re-examined by Court of Appeal judges. It is understood a top KC specialising in wrongful convictions has been lined up to represent him. If he succeeds in overturning the case, it would represent one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK legal history. Hardie's partially burned body was found in Mr Freeman's flat in Rotherhithe, south-east London, in April 1988. Prosecutors claimed Mr Freeman lured the 49-year-old alcoholic to his home, then suffocated him using a technique called 'burking', which was used by 19th-century 'body-snatchers' Burke and Hare, who sold corpses to doctors for dissection. Mr Freeman is then alleged to have set the flat on fire and fled abroad as part of an elaborate insurance scam - simply, they said Mr Freeman wanted to make it look as though he died in the fire, and enable a claim to be made on his life insurance policy. But the fire did not properly take hold, and the body was identified as Scotsman Hardie's. Mr Freeman said he was staying at a hotel in Earl's Court, on the other side of London, the night of the alleged murder. 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The new toxicology report has looked into the original analysis of Mr Hardie's death by the Crown's pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd, which initially concluded that the Scot was not murdered. The Mail has previously revealed that in a 2017 report Professor Nicholas Birch, a respected consulting pharmacologist, was very critical of Dr Shepherd's work. He said: 'I understand that the contemporaneous notes of Dr Shepherd made at the post-mortem were not disclosed to the defence at the time of the trial. 'Subsequent consideration of them has disclosed that at the post-mortem of April 16, 1988, Dr Shepherd concluded: 'COD [cause of death] prob alc [alcohol] + acute pancreatitis'.' Also, in the first two examinations, there were no reports of bruising on Mr Hardie's back despite an examination in that area. Professor Birch wrote that these notes were not disclosed. 'He found a more melodramatic cause of death but one which is not based on the facts of the Burke case. However, this may have influenced the jury,' he added. Six years ago, forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar wrote that 'there is no evidence in isolation or in combination that allows a cause of death to be put forward, in particular there is no evidence that allows a diagnosis of suffocation, crush asphyxia, Burking or similar'. There are also claims that key police evidence was withheld from Mr Freeman's lawyers ahead of his trial. Celebrity pathologist Dr Shepherd, whose evidence was crucial in the prosecution's case, said he noted the CCRC decision but had 'nothing further to add' when contacted by the Mail today. Theoretically, Mr Freeman could have been released after completing the 13-year minimum term of his life sentence. But his continued protestations of innocence means he has never been granted parole. He now hopes to live long enough to clear his name when his case comes before the Court of Appeal. In February, the Mail revealed the scandal of another long-serving murder convict, the so-called 'Beast of Birkenhead' Peter Sullivan. He spent 38 years in jail before his conviction was quashed in May, three months after our damning revelations.
Telegraph
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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Shocking moment Brit tourist collapses on Rio beach after woman's drugs cocktail
Investigators are searching for three women after the group allegedly conspired to drug a British tourist to steal tens of thousands of pounds from him during his holiday This is the shocking moment a British tourist collapsed on a beach in Rio de Janeiro after the victim was drugged by a woman. The incident was recorded on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema beach in the early hours. Video footage showed the victim in a disorientated state as he staggered down the beachfront and then collapsed onto the sand. Just moments earlier, three women, who are understood to be suspects, were seen running down the street before jumping in a taxi that swiftly left the area. The victim is believed to be a university student who was on holiday with a mate from school when they met the woman and drank with them at a bar. It comes after a man dies and 9 more rushed to hospital after eating sandwich amid urgent recall. One of the women who is believed to have given him a caipirinha cocktail before the victim drank it and ended up losing consciousness. When he woke up in the emergency room, he found that more than £16,000 had been swindled from his bank account, reports NewsX. The two Brits, who were not named, also claimed their iPhones were taken. Police in Brazil have identified the women as Amanda Couto Deloca, 23, Mayara Ketelyn Americo da Silva, 26, and Raiane Campos de Oliveira, 27. Investigators said the women are sex workers who prey on tourists who visit the city. Campos de Oliveira was previously jailed for six months for the same type of offence and is now understood to have returned to the scheme. The trio were recognised on videos shared to social media where they were seen with the men before the incident on August 8. Police have located the taxi driver who drove away with the women, although he is not suspected to have been involved in their scheme. Brazil's Special Tourism Support Unit has launched an investigation into the case. It has urged visitors to be cautious around strangers and to avoid sharing drinks. There have been other cases where Brits have taken drugs while abroad with serious consequences. Ryan Long, 18, died after he reportedly took an ecstasy pill on holiday. Ryan, from Eastwood in Essex, was in Ibiza with four friends on his first-ever lads holiday. But he died earlier this year after he suddenly fell ill while out in UNVRS nightclub.
