A UK coroner has ordered an inquest into the death of a British dad whose heart stopped, after he was allegedly knelt on by police and beaten up by bouncers in Magaluf. Tobias White-Sansom, 35, died in hospital on July 31 five days after an incident at a nightclub on the Magaluf Strip in Majorca, reports The Mirror.
Tobias had a private funeral in his home city of Nottingham last weekend. Acting Senior Coroner Andrew Barkley has now decided an inquest into Tobias' death will be necessary. Tobias' brother, Maximillian White, said: "The saddest thing for me is that every time we get a small win I have to accept that my brother is not coming back. That's the worst thing.
"Having to look his children in the face... it's sad. I have to watch my own mum just trying to keep it together, because that's the only option she's got. After Toby's funeral it hit me hard because I realised he wasn't coming back. There were hundreds and hundreds of people who wanted to show their support.
"Everyone was saying goodbye, and I knew it was going to hit me at some point, but I just didn't think that it would be until after the funeral."
Maximillian said: "What it always comes down to for me is he's been handcuffed and led out of a club semi-unconsciousness. Why was he not just put in the back of a police car? Why was he thrown to the floor, beaten, tasered, injected and sat on by eight police officers, while also handcuffed by his feet?
"Next year when kids go off on their first holiday with their friends, I want some form of procedure of what is going to happen if they get arrested. This is what I want to ask: If they get arrested, are you going to handcuff them and sit on them, or are you going to put them in a cell?
He passed away five days later (Image: mirrorpix)
"Because as parents, and family members, this is what we want to know."
Maximillian previously told the Mirror a family night out turned to tragedy after Tobias visited the Boomerang nightclub. Police said private security informed them of an assault on a bouncer, and the suspect was given a tranquiliser before being taken to hospital, where he died.
Witnesses alleged that Tobias was "in no way resisting" and that he was seen with "blood pouring from his face" inside the club. They claim bouncers hit and kicked Tobias, before "pinning him to the floor" while he "screamed non-stop".
Witnesses also alleged that once Tobias was brought outside, police "hit him with batons". Eight police officers then allegedly knelt on Tobias "for around up to an hour", it was claimed, before he was taken to hospital by an ambulance.
The Spanish civil guard said it was called to reports of an assault of a bouncer. It said in a previous statement: "Upon the arrival of the Guardia Civil police, this man was violent and police reduced him to be assisted by medical services. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
"There, once while he was being assisted, he was arrested for a crime of injury."
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We have provided consular assistance to the family of a British man who died in Majorca.”
Staffordshire South Coroner’s Service declined to comment.
