A scaffolding firm boss from Northampton has been jailed for six years for stabbing to death a holidaymaker outside a bar in Majorca.
Thomas Swannell, aged 46, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, was jailed at a court on the Spanish island on Wednesday for killing Gary Vigors (pictured below), aged 42, during a brawl outside a bar in Magaluf in March 2011.
He has already served two years on remand and could be able to spend the rest of his jail term in the UK.
The victim’s father, David Vigors, has told the Chronicle & Echo he is disappointed with the length of the sentence.
He said: “It’s unbelievable that he can be given six years. The Spanish system for dealing with things like this is very different and I am disappointed.
“My wife and I have talked this through so many times and we’ve said we must not feel disappointed if the outcome wasn’t what we were hoping for. “I am pleased there is a substantial amount of money for Gary’s daughter, Nicole, that will now be set-up in a trust fund for her.”
As well as his time in jail, Swannell must also pay EURO 177,000 to the parents and daughter of his victim, the equivalent of more than £150,000.
Reports in Spanish newspapers at the time reported how Swannell and Mr Vigors had bumped into each other on several occasions during a night out in the Majorcan town.
Following a disagreement, Swannell then smashed a bottle and slashed Mr Vigors’ throat.
Eyewitnesses have spoken about how they found Mr Vigors, a father-of-one, lying on the side of the road in a pool of blood following the incident at the popular Cafe Plaza bar, at around 2.20am.
Bar staff tried to resuscitate him for several minutes before an ambulance arrived and took him to hospital.
He was later pronounced dead.
Swannell had been on a tour of the island with Finedon Dolben Cricket Club, where he had been part of the club “for little while” and had taken on the responsibility as one of the club sponsors.
Mr Vigors, an IT manager with Lloyds Banking Group, had been asked to go to Majorca for the weekend to provide some younger company for his boss on his father’s birthday break.
Speaking after the fatal attack, Charly Hamblyn, the Plaza Bar’s resident singer, said: “I’ve never seen anything so savage and horrific. I was in total shock – you never expect someone to die in front of your eyes.”
Swannell, who has been held on remand since the murder, was to be tried by a jury on Monday but accepted a plea bargain agreement, which saw prosecutors downgrade a request for a 14-year sentence.
The two years he had aready served will be deducted from his sentence.