04/10/2013 00:00
TW
0
By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
A British man, who was found guilty by a jury last month of murdering a fellow expatriate in Magalluf, was yesterday handed an 18-year prison sentence.

Richard Roberts, aged 36, from Merseyside, was found guilty in Palma on September 24 of having stabbed Daniel Hastelow, aged 26, from West Midlands, in the early hours of January 12, 2008.

Roberts' co-defendant, Paul Anthony Griffiths, 23, also from Merseyside, was acquitted after the three-day trial.
Roberts claimed he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Hastelow seven times.
The victim also suffered a blow from a baseball bat which, along with a 15 centimetre long kitchen knife, were eventually found by the police in the sea off Magalluf beach. Hastelow was apparently stabbed while he was asleep inside the flat which he shared with two other Britons in the resort at around 4am.

During last month's hearing, the court heard how Roberts had been looking for his victim after the two had been involved in a fight the night before and Hastelow, who had been working as a barman, had apparently hit Roberts.