Five of six men accused of ten robberies committed in Majorca between August 2011 and January 2013 yesterday admitted the facts to the Balearic Provincial Court in Palma.
On the first morning of the trial of the six, the accused explained how they staked out properties and individuals they intended to rob and how the robberies were planned several days in advance. They were committed with the use of a military assault rifle and a pistol, and those taking part covered their faces with ski masks and dressed in dark or military clothing.
The prosecution has charged them with up to ten robberies, committed in occupied properties and with the use of firearms. They are also charged with false detention of individuals - property owners and security guards - with illegal possession of weapons, with possession and storage of prohibited arms and weapons of war. The prosecution has called for sentences of between 39 and 200 years for the six, which in total amount to 540 years.
Four of the accused were soldiers with the Palma 47 regiment from the old General Asensio base. Two have taken part in overseas missions.
One of the accused, for whom the prosecutor has demanded a sentence of 91 years, has expressed his repentance and also blamed what happened on chronic post-traumatic stress that followed those missions. "When you lose respect for your own life on account of the type of work in which I have seen death close up on several occasions, you lose respect for everything else."
The case continues.