Man cleared of rape after two years in Spanish jail

A BIRMINGHAM dad spent nearly two years in a Spanish jail over a false rape claim on a weekend stag do in Benidorm.

- BEN PERRIN News Reporter

The 31-year-old businessman and his friend, also from the city, were arrested at gunpoint and locked up with killers for 20 months before their innocence was established.

He lost his job and his home and was attacked twice as he languished behind bars in the searing heat of Alicante’s notorious Fontcalent Prison, dubbed one of Europe’s most feared jails.

Neither man was publicly named during the legal process and the father asked the Post to maintain their anonymity.

Police were called after a woman claimed she was drugged and raped in a hotel room during the friends’ two-night stay in November 2023.

The businessman, now back in the UK, said there was a consensual sexual encounter and no drugs were involved.

But he said he and his friend were later arrested in an operation with more than 20 armed police officers.

He said they faced jail terms of 15 years if convicted but, determined to prove their innocence, they rejected a plea deal which would have seen them serve eight years.