Walter Finch
THE mother of a Brit who died in a Spanish resort has slammed the police for caring more about protecting the town’s reputation than catching her son’s killers.
Brett Dryden, 35, a father of one from County Durham, was found dead with a gash to the head at his seaside apartment in Mojacar, Almeria, last July.
Police had initially told the family that Brett had died from a blood clot on his lungs after falling and hitting his head.
But a recently obtained autopsy contradicted this version of events, revealing that ‘there were significant marks on the body to indicate a physical struggle.’
Now, Brett’s mother, Sarah Adams, has told the Olive Press she’s ‘disgusted and just absolutely so angry’ at the ‘sloppy work’ – and attitude – of the Guardia Civil in investigating his death.
“They would rather bury it and claim it was an accidental death just to keep the good image of the town,” fumed the 56-year-old.
“We flew out there immediately as soon as we heard the news, but it was about five days before we managed to speak with them,” Sarah said.
“They said that it was a terrible accident, and he had had a pulmonary embolism, which led to him falling and banging his head.
“While we were out there, [the police] were trying to rush us to have the cremation in Spain. They even let his friends walk through the crime scene not once but twice.
“They actually closed the case, and a judge only ordered it to be re-opened and investigated correctly when I pointed out that Brett’s phone and money were missing.
READ MORE: British family demand answers over ‘murder’ of expat dad at his seaside home in Spain’s Andalucia
“We’ve just come back from Spain after getting the autopsy results, which was a right struggle to get hold of. And it states that there were signs of a robbery and a struggle in his villa.”
It’s now nine months since Brett’s death and ‘we’ve still had no contact from [the Guardia Civil],’ Sandra added.
“All we want is for them to cooperate and speak to us and give us an update. I want to know that they’re doing something.”
The family are now applying for a licence to stage a protest outside the town hall to express their feelings on police failings in Dylan’s case.
Brett had moved to Mojacar in 2019 to set up a legal cannabis club. “I was always dead against it, I don’t know why he went it’s just something he wanted to do,” Sandra said.
“But he opened this cannabis club on the beach, which turned into a little community, and he made lots of friends and got a lot of support from the community out in Mojacar, people of all ages, nationalities and races.
“It’s just amazing the people he knew and met.”
The former Nissan worker was found dead by friends when he failed to return from a siesta.
Adding to the family’s suspicions that he had been the victim of a crime, his Gucci sunglasses, cash savings and phone were found missing.
Most disturbingly, Sandra insists that a silent call was made to her from his phone after he died, leaving her convinced that someone stole it.
The senior care worker said Brett’s friends found him ‘covered in blood’ and that police told them it had been a ‘violent death’ and that he may have been ‘hit with an axe’ – before changing their story.
“There was blood all through his like apartment, with hand prints all over the walls,” she added.
CCTV footage from the neighbours reportedly showed three men fleeing from the scene around the same time.
Sandra even claims she was not even informed that he had a 4x5cm gash to his head, which she only discovered upon seeing his body at the crematorium.
“I do believe, with my hand on my heart, that Brett knew his killers.”
