The dad of Coatbridge man Craig Mallon has emphasised his frustration after a French man believed to be at the scene of his son’s death failed to follow up on correspondence between them.
Ian Mallon and crime expert David Swindle have been working tirelessly to find the person who killed 26-year-old Craig with a single punch to the head in Spain’s Lloret de Mar resort in 2012.
They identified four French men they are certain were at the scene when Craig died and wrote to one of the “significant individuals” several times asking if he was aware of what happened.
After the French national confirmed his identity and denied any knowledge of how Craig was killed, Ian and Mr Swindle wrote back with a detailed breakdown of events proving that the French quartet were in the vicinity at the time.
He even offered to organise a Skype call with a French translator to make communication easier.
No response was forthcoming, though, and, despite sending two more letters explaining why he may be able to assist, Ian doesn’t know where to turn next due to the Spanish authorities’ indifference to the case.
Ian, who suffers from serious health problems, told the Advertiser: “I feel like he was lying and didn’t know we had evidence ready to send back to him.
“If my health wasn’t so bad I’d go over to France and personally speak with this man.
“We aren’t accusing him of killing Craig and whoever did this probably didn’t mean to kill Craig. But this man was there that night and his story of being in Barcelona during the night is irrelevant.
“We have CCTV proof that his group were in the local police station that morning. The Spanish authorities should be doing everything to get to the bottom of this.
“It’s not as if there’s an endless path with no answers, there are people they should be speaking to. We’re taking one step forward and two steps back.
“I’d describe the whole situation as a joke but it’s not funny at all.”
The four French men captured on CCTV have never been interviewed by Spanish police.
On the morning of Craig’s death they were not in Barcelona but in a local police station to retrieve their vehicle that had been uplifted by cops only hours earlier.
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Mr Swindle said: “It’s encouraging that one of the French men eventually responded to Ian’s letter confirming his identity.
“However, it’s disappointing that, after seeing the breakdown of his and his friends’ movements and why we want to talk to them as significant potential witnesses to Craig’s death, they have not responded to several letters sent to them by Craig’s dad.
“Why is it that when we proved they were in the area he’s become really closed off?
“What do we do now? The Spanish government and authorities don’t want to know, despite these clear lines of inquiry."
