A man accused of killing an Irish tourist while on holiday in Tenerife 16 years ago has been found not guilty by a jury in Santa Cruz.

Darren Sapstead from Essex, was cleared of pushing Garry Walton in to the sea while on a booze cruse of the coast of Playa de las Americas in 1996.

He was cleared after inconsistences in the prosecution witness’s statements. Katie and Lucy Smethurst, who incriminated Mr Sapstead by approaching Manchester police 10 months after the event, change their accounts of the events that day.

Mr Walton drowned after falling in to the sea and the original inquest verdict in 1997 had been of accidental death. There was no sign of violence on Mr Walton’s body and the accused never changed his story.

Mr Sapstead was extradited to Spain in 2005, where he spent time in a Spanish jail on remand after the case was reopened. During this time he lost his £300,000 business and has spent thousands trying to clear his name. He was allowed to return to the UK on bail while a judge continued to investigate the death.

Just before the recent storm in the Canary Islands a Fred Olsen ferry set sail from Los Cristianos to La Palma carrying 200 passengers for what should have been a relatively short passage. However, the journey turned in to a 10 hour nightmare for the passengers when the ship got stranded at sea during the storm this week.

After leaving Los Cristianos at 14:30 on Sunday, just before the storm hit, the ship battled its way through very rough seas only to be denied access to the port in La Palma as it was too dangerous to dock. The ship had already spent four hours in rough seas and had no choice but to head back to Tenerife.

Unfortunately the sea conditions got worse and the ship diverted to La Gomera where it hoped to shelter from the storm. However the conditions had by now got so bad that the ship couldn’t dock here either.

So the ship headed back to Los Cristianos but the port here had now shut as well, so she had to sail to Santa Cruz where she finally docked after 10 torturous hours at sea.

The passengers had to sleep on blankets supplied by the Red Cross. Passengers are asking why the ship was allowed to sail at all, given that there was wide knowledge of the severe storm approaching. Passengers described panic as the ship was tossed about on the sea by hurricane force winds.

 

Fred Olsen Express ferry struggling to dock in Los Cristianos harbour as a storm hits Tenerife.

An orange alert has been issued for today for Tenerife by the Met Office. High winds, up to 140kmh, caused damage to property last night; communications and transport have also been hit.

Approximately 10000 homes are without power on Tenerife and La Palma.

There are delays Tenerife airport, with over 50 flights being cancelled or diverted in the Canary Islands and shipping was confined to harbour, several road have been closed due to rock falls. Los Cristianos harbour was closed completely for safety reasons.

 

Schools and universities have been closed as a precaution a decision will be made later today about opening them tomorrow. Most emergency calls have been about fallen trees and landslides due to the high winds and torrential rain. Falling masonry and trees have caused damage to property and cars.

 

You can watch a video of waves coming over the harbor walls at Los Cristianos.

 

 

The Met office for the Canary Islands have issued a storm warning for the weekend with two weather fronts hitting the island on friday and a second on one Sunday, bringing high winds and heavy rain to Tenerife.

 

Tenerife 7 day weather forecast

 

 

The drug addict that beheaded a British woman on Tenerife has been sentenced to 20 years in a secure psychiatric unit. The judge, Maria Jesus Garcia Sanchez, passed the maximum available sentence for crimes caused by schizophrenia. He repeatedly stabbed 60 year old Jennifer Mills-Westley in a supermarket in Los Cristianos while she was shopping. The court accepted that he was not criminally responsible as he suffered from chronic paranoid schizophrenia. He had previously been detained in north Wales and Tenerife hospitals. The judge also ordered Deyan Deyanov, 29, to pay the victims daughters €100 000.

This year's Las Galletas half marathon gets under way 9am on Sunday 7th April the course goes around El Fraile, Palmar and Guargacho and is 21km long. There is also a shorter race of 10.8km. This is the 17th Las Galletas half marathon.

You must register before the 31st march and be over 18 years of age to enter and will cost €23, for which you will be given a goodie bag with a tee shirt to say you competed.

For the pros there are cash prizes of up to €750 and some trophies. Here is a link to the official web site http://www.mediomaratonlasgalletas.com/

The course is divided into 4 sections shown on the map below.

 

This year’s Arona carnaval gets going on the 1st March and goes on until the 11th March. It all starts in Los Cristianos with the presentation of the Carnival Queen candidates at 20:00 in the Auditorio Los Cristianos, Playa Las Américas. This year’s theme is ‘Brazil’.

There will be some spectacular events with amazing parades, costumes and an amazing carnival atmosphere. The opening carnival parade is on the 2nd March in Los Cristianos.  

There will also be a senior citizens fancy dress ball on the 3rd March, as well as the adult carnival Queen election on the 7th March and children’s carnival queen election on the 8th.

The Grand parade will be held on Sunday 10th March through the streets of Los Cristainos.

The traditional burial of the sardine is on the 11th.

 

Los Cristianos Carnival Event Calendar

Carnival Activity	Location, date, Time
Carnival photo exhibition opening	Centro Cultural Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Friday 01/03/2013 19:30 h.
Carnival Queen candidates' presentation	Auditorio Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Friday 01/03/2013 20:30 h.
Carnival Opening Parade	Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Saturday 02/03/2013
Senior citizens fancy-dress Ball	Recinto Ferial (Frente al Edificio Valdés Center) Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Wednesday 06/03/2013 18:30 h.
Adult Queen Election	Recinto Ferial (Frente al Edificio Valdés Center) Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Thursday 07/03/2013 21:00 h.
Children's Carnival Queen Election	Recinto Ferial (Frente al Edificio Valdés Center) Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Friday 08/03/2013 21:00 h.
Carnaval Day	Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Saturday 09/03/2013 12:00 h.
Great Carnival Parade	Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Sunday 10/03/2013
Burial of the Sardine	Los Cristianos - Playa Las Américas Monday 11/03/2013 20:00 h.

 

The sixth world bread fair starts this year in the Plaza Arico Nuevo in Arico on the 2nd March from 17:00 to 20:00. The fair will attract people from all over the island showing off their mouth-watering breads. The bread recipes come from all over Europe and will be offered alongside other local produce from the island such as cheese, tomatoes, honey and wine all set in beautiful historic surroundings.

 

The location of the fair is shown on the map below.

 

 

The man accused of beheading a British woman in Los Cristianos on Tenerife in May 2011 has been found guilty of murder today by a jury in Santa Cruz. He now faces a term of 15 to 20 years in a psychiatric unit.

The victim, Jenifer Mills-Westley originally from Norwich, had retired to Tenerife and was attacked in a supermarket in Los Cristianos near the beach.

The family of the victim have criticised the British authorities for the lack of support.

The perpetrator, Deyan Deyanov 29 from Bulgaria, was found guilty despite suffering from schizophrenia, as under Spanish law you can be convicted of murder when responsibility is diminished.

Deyanov told the court after his conviction through his interpreter "I am the second reincarnation of Jesus Christ and I will bring the fire of the Holy Spirit to bear against this court."

The prosecution as asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed, which is 20 years in a secure psychiatric ward. The defence has asked for the minimum sentence of 15 years.

Deyanov told the court that he did not recognise himself on the CCTV footage and had no recollection of living on Tenerife. He has admitted using crack cocaine and LSD and was homeless at the time of the attack.

On the 13th May 2011, he went into the Mas Articulos Mejor Precios supermarket and attacked the victim with a knife, stabbing her repeatedly and then cutting off her head.

Deyanov claimed voices had told him he was "an angel of Jesus Christ who is going to create a new Jerusalem". He was well known to police and had been arrested for violent offences at least four times, and a warrant for his arrest had been issued three days before the attack.

 

Photo: ALBANPIX/AFP/GETTY