Death of England fan raised in Parliament during ‘Britons murdered abroad' debate

Yahoo

13-05-2025

The case of the England football fan who died in Bulgaria more than five years ago has been raised in a Parliament debate during which the Foreign Office was accused of leaving his family 'in the dark.'
Rob Spray died in Sofia on October 14, 2019 before England's European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria – which he had travelled to watch – after suffering cardiac arrest while in police custody.
Mr Spray's family have fought to get answers over his death, during which time his mother Jillian died of cancer. His father Malcolm and sister Katie were last month told that the coroner is still waiting for vital information to be passed on by Bulgarian authorities to allow a full inquest to be heard before a jury.
The MP for Cannock Chase, Josh Newbury, has offered his support to the family and raised Mr Spray's case in Parliament on Monday night during a debate titled British nationals murdered abroad: support for families.
Mr Newbury told Parliament: 'Rob's case is about to be heard at inquest, so I will not comment on the legal aspects, but I can say that his family were left in the dark by the Bulgarian authorities and, sadly, by the Foreign Office.
'They had very little guidance, even on how to bring Rob's body back to the UK, and they had to resort to a translation app to decipher Rob's autopsy after they were told that they would have to wait six months for an official translation. That all deepened their grief and frustration at the worst possible time. The worst part of all is that Rob's mum sadly passed away not knowing what happened to her son.
'I will do everything I can to help Rob's family get the answers that they have waited so long to get, and I know that the honourable gentleman will continue to campaign on this. Does he agree that we need to make sure that bereaved families like the Sprays get the full support of the British Government, so that they can get the closure that they need and deserve?'
Addressing Alex Davies-Jones, Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Mr Newbury added: 'Would she be willing to meet me and the family [of Rob Spray], when the time is right for them, to see what could be done to get them the answers they so desperately want?'
Ms Davies-Jones responded by saying: 'I am grateful to my honourable friend for raising the Sprays's experience. It is their lived experience and the experiences of other bereaved families that fuel me and give me that information to conduct my role as the victims Minister. I wholeheartedly welcome that correspondence and information.'
As a pre-inquest in February, Daniel Howe, area coroner for Staffordshire, stated that a full inquest will be heard before a jury because it was 'unnatural in state detention' and there could be 'reason to suspect unlawful death'.
The family of Mr Spray, aged 32 of Heath Hayes in Staffordshire, have never been told why he was discharged from Pirogov hospital into police custody, given he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest shortly afterwards with no doctors on hand to help him. Bulgarian officials originally reported that Mr Spray had been found in a 'helpless condition' before being taken to hospital. A petition calling for an investigation into Mr Spray's death surpassed 100,000 signatures.
The barrister of Mr Spray's family, Oliver Carr, told the coroner: 'The family see the evidence and strongly believe that the traumatic injuries that Rob acquired were at the hands of Bulgarian police and believe they more than minimally contributed towards his death. The family does not accept the evidence that does not go towards these ends.'
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