A trial has begun in Palma for a man who’s accused of running over four young people at the doors of a well-known nightclub in s'Arenal on April 9 last year.
On Monday, the defendant told the court that what happened “was an accident" and that he had no intention of running over the victims, claiming that he tried to stop his Ford Fiesta when he saw that he was driving at full speed towards a group of boys that he’d had an argument with just hours before.
"I remember I tried to hit the brakes and it didn't respond” he said.
The defendant has been in custody since the incident and would only answer questions from his lawyer, David Salvá.
If found guilty, he could be jailed for 10 years for 4 counts of attempted murder.
Dispute
Both the defendant and the victims admitted that they were involved in a dispute inside the nightclub which continued outside the venue.
"I fought with him near the beach," said one victim.
The defendant admitted that he had been drinking and using drugs both at the nightclub and before he arrived.
After the altercation the defendant decided to leave and explained that his friends were in other vehicles behind him, but that he lost sight of them.
"I did not see them in the rear view mirror and I didn’t know if they'd had an accident," he said.
He turned round and headed back to the disco just before 04:00. There were a lot of people standing at the door at that time and CCTV shows the car heading for the crowd and hitting four people. After the accident the driver left the scene, but was later arrested.
One of the victims told the court that he and his friends were at the door of the disco after a night of partying when he suddenly felt a strong impact in his back. He was allegedly hit by the defendant's Ford Fiesta, lost consciousness and was transferred to hospital.
One of the victims who was a minor at the time, claims the accident prevented him from securing a new contract with the Atlético Baleares youth.
“I was about to sign the renewal contract when this cut everything off,” he said. “I was off for a long period of time and couldn’t return.”
The trial continues.