British man convicted of killing fellow expat

A British man charged with killing a fellow expat in a Spanish island holiday resort has been convicted, a court said today.

Richard Roberts, 36, from Merseyside, was accused of stabbing Daniel Hastelow, 26, in Magaluf, Majorca, last year.

A court in Palma, Majorca's major city, convicted him, but acquitted co-defendant Paul Anthony Griffiths, 23, also from Merseyside, after a three-day trial this week.

The nine jurors in the trial reached a verdict after one day of deliberations.

The prosecution said Mr Hastelow, of Walsall Wood in the West Midlands, was stabbed eight times, a spokeswoman at the provincial court in Palma said.

Prosecutor Miguel Angel Anadon initially called for a 21-year jail sentence for Roberts, she said.

Roberts' lawyers are hoping to get this reduced to five years, according to local reports.

Roberts said earlier this week that he acted in self defence.

He told the court he stabbed Mr Hastelow in a fight while attempting to protect himself, it was reported.

Mr Hastelow had been working as a barman in Magaluf, a resort popular with young British holidaymakers.

Roberts and Griffiths were also living in Magaluf, an official at Palma's provincial court said.

They were being held in prison in Palma prior to the trial, she added.

Roberts is expected to be sentenced in the next two weeks.

Mr Hastelow's sister, Claire Peters, wrote on the website Justice for Danny: "On January 13 2008, My brother Danny was murdered in his apartment in Spain.

"He had gone out to celebrate his 26th birthday. This celebration ended in tragedy at 4.30am in the morning when he was brutally attacked and killed whilst in his apartment."

She added: "Danny did not deserve to die like this."