The 25-year-old French woman who knocked down and killed a member of the Palma local police force on Wednesday night was today ordered to be held on remand in Palma prison. Bail was denied. During the preliminary hearing at the Inca courthouse, she was charged with involuntary manslaughter and driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Biel Llull, 44, was cycling with his young son when the incident occurred around eight in the evening on the Palma road to Sineu near to the intersection with Lloret. When he arrived at Son Espases Hospital, he was already brain dead and had suffered cardiac arrest. He died soon afterwards.
Two French women, occupants of an Opel Corsa, were given breath tests and were found to be four times over the limit. It is said that they had been drinking in bars in Sineu.
Biel Llull, well known in the town, had ended his shift in Palma and had returned to Sineu and then gone for a bike ride with his son, said to be aged nine or ten. The boy's bike was also hit, but he was unhurt except for some bruises.
At the San Fernando station in Palma where Biel Llull was based, there was understandable consternation at what had occurred. He was considered a "model police officer". On Wednesday he had commented to colleagues how happy he was. His wife is pregnant with their second child. After learning about the incident, some of these colleagues went to Sineu to comfort the family.
According to witnesses, the two women remonstrated with traffic police. It appeared as if both were saying that the other was driving the car. Initially, they refused to cooperate and provide identity. Eventually, one was heard to shout that it was she who had been driving, but "no pasa nada". Officers asked her if she realised that she was making a confession. The woman nodded, was arrested and taken to Inca police station where she gave a second breathalyser test. The family of Biel Llull are also pressing their own private charges against the driver.