Family of teen who died on holiday still fighting for justice 17 years on
Garry Walton, 21, from Touraneena, Co Waterford, drowned while on a boat trip off the coast of Playa de Las Americas in Nov 1996.
A trial in Tenerife last month cleared Darren Sapstead, 38, from Essex, in England, of pushing Mr Walton to his death.
However, the Walton family have not given up on their fight for justice.
“Our ultimate goal is to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights,” explained Mr Walton’s aunt, Rachel Walton.
“But we’re not allowed to do that until every avenue has been explored in Spain so we have submitted an application this week for an appeal against the verdict.”
Ms Walton attended the trial in Santa Cruz along with her sister Debbie and Mr Walton’s parents, Robert and Catherine.
“It was horrible and very frustrating,” she explained. “We weren’t even informed that the trial was due to take place. We found out when an English journalist working in Tenerife tracked down Robert. It was a massive shock. We thought it would never happen but we dared to hope that we might get justice. However, the trial failed to call any of the credible witnesses, there was no cross-examination and the Irish postmortem was ignored.”
Mr Walton was on the last day of a week-long holiday in Tenerife when the incident occurred. His death was treated as accidental by Spanish authorities, but his family always believed he was pushed.
Ms Walton said her nephew was bullied and taunted by a group of five people on board the boat.
She believes he was viewed as an easy target.
“Garry was slim and pale and was wearing a hat that said ‘Ireland’ on it, all this contributed to him being picked on.”
In response to a heartfelt letter from Mr Walton’s parents, a Spanish public prosecutor ordered the investigation to be reopened. Darren Sapstead was extradited to Spain in 2005 and bound to the island for eight months.
However, he was allowed return to England on bail.
Ms Walton said the trial mirrored Spain’s involvement in the case from day one. “Spain showed no interest in investigating Garry’s death when it happened and in my opinion, the ‘trial’ displayed the same lack of interest. They simply wanted to close the case once and for all.
“Anything that has ever happened to move this case forward has been because of the family,” said Ms Walton.
Mr Walton’s body was exhumed by the Irish authorities in 1997 for a second autopsy. The results differed significantly to the results of the Spanish postmortem which had declared there were no signs of violence to Mr Walton’s body.
However, an inquest into Mr Walton’s death has never been launched by the Irish authorities. “We hope that the findings of such an inquest would constitute fresh evidence and grounds for a retrial,” said Ms Walton.
The family “live in hope” that England or Ireland may take up the case, she said.
The family is to continue with their quest for justice. “To this day the family have never had an official and proven cause of death established — surely every person has a right to this.”
*Visit ‘Justice for Garry Walton’ on Facebook for more information.
