The Czech suspect arrested over the murder of a British man who vanished in Benidorm was hauled to court in handcuffs today.
The 32-year-old scowled as he was led into the court building in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja flanked by two armed police officers.
He was appearing before an investigating judge in a behind-closed-doors hearing this morning, and has since been released on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe.
His court hearing came three days after his arrest the same day father-of-two John George’s body was found hidden under lemon trees in an orchard off a main road running between the towns of Rojales and Torrevieja.
Officials signalled after releasing him investigators suspected at least one other person was involved in the crime although no new arrests have yet taken place.
A spokesman for the Valencian Community’s High Court of Justice, which covers the town of Torrevieja where the suspect appeared before a judge, said this afternoon: ‘The head of Torrevieja’s Court of Instruction Number Two, acting as a duty court, has decided to release with precautionary measures the man arrested in relationship to the homicide of a northern Irish citizen whose body was discovered in Rojales on Tuesday.
‘The decision was taken in accordance with the criteria of public prosecutors.
‘The judge is currently attributing to him a crime of homicide as an accomplice or by aiding and abetting the crime.
The 32-year-old Czech suspect scowled as he was led into the court building in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja flanked by two armed police officers
Mr George was first reported missing after he failed to board his flight home on December 18
The 37-year-old was at a friend’s home in Alicante along Spain’s Costa del Sol before later leaving to meet up with other friends in nearby Benidorm (pictured)
‘His bail conditions include the obligations to sign on at court every fortnight and hand in his passport and he is also banned from leaving Spain.
‘The court will continue with investigations with the intention of fully solving this case.’
Police used up nearly all the 72 hours they were able to hold him in custody under Spanish law.
It was not immediately clear if he had answered questions fired at him by detectives or had retained his right to silence.
Police have not named the bearded suspect, who is from the Czech Republic, and are not expected to do so officially even if he ends up being remanded to a local jail as he continues to be investigated on suspicion of the Belfast man’s homicide.
Any formal charges would only be laid at a later stage of the judicial probe, which is likely to take at least several months to complete.
Court officials are expected to confirm later today what the outcome of the court appearance has been, although they are unlikely to offer any details about what was said during the hearing.
Yesterday the first pictures emerged of the remote spot where John’s body was dumped after he went missing during a Costa Blanca holiday.
Police had returned to the scene and one of the officers was using a metal detector to scour over the surrounding ground and a rural road beside the orchard.
Mr George (left), also known as John Hardy, had been holidaying in Alicante and was last in touch with his family on December 14
A trail of dried blood was still visible on the rural road near overgrown lemon trees his decomposing remains were discovered under on Tuesday morning, suggesting he had been abandoned in a hurry.
Police arrows had also been marked out on the ground which appeared to chart the pattern and direction of the bloodstains.
No attempts had been made by the person or people who left the victim to bury his body in a shallow grave and instead it had simply been obscured under low-lying tree branches and foliage to prevent it being seen by passing motorists.
John’s father Billy named a number of people he described as suspects on his social media before his son’s body was found, including a man from the Czech Republic.
Post-mortem results have not yet been made public and police have not said how long they think John’s body had been at the spot where it was found, although it is known his last contact with his family was on December 14.
His family reported him missing after he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later after what was meant to be a short holiday.
By December 23 his family had launched a GoFundMe campaign to aid a search, voicing concerns he had been the victim of a crime.
John’s brother Darren travelled to Alicante to help in the search with their parents, Billy and Sharon, and sister Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.
Siblings Darren, Courtney, Caitlyn and Mr George (right)
On January 1 members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, joined the wide-scale operation to find the missing man.
Seven K9 search technicians and their Labrador retriever Rocko took part in the operation.
They returned home on Sunday after scouring hundreds of miles of land.
John’s family, who are due to arrive back in Northern Ireland today, left a floral tribute yesterday in the Costa Blanca town near to where his body was found.
In a video posted on social media Billy said: ‘I’ve found my son. I’m bringing him home.’
The Civil Guard has made only one official statement since Tuesday’s grim find, saying: ‘Following the discovery of the body, a 32 year old man was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of homicide.
‘Further information will be provided as soon as more details become available.’