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The provincial court of Malaga has sentenced a man to four years in prison and various fines amounting to 15,469 euros for continuously threatening his former employers and coworkers, as well as attempting to attack police officers with bleach. The various displays of aggression, verbal and physical, took place over two months in the summer of 2023, creating "a situation of absolute fear and uneasiness" among the employers and employees of the company.
At the beginning of July, a few days after the end of the man's employment with his previous company his former supervisor received the first threats. "I swear on my life that at least two hand grenades are going to explode," read the WhatsApp message. He also proceeded to claim that he was going to "blow up the office" and show them what "a massacre" was. The messages were triggered by his demand for 2,500 euros from the company.
In response to the messages, the man's supervisor called him and tried to appease him, but to no avail, as the man continued to threaten the company. He said that he was going to "blow up the whole building" and "kidnap" one of the female employees.
On 6 July 2023, the man was ordered to stay away from his former office, but that didn't put an end to the harassment. It got to the point where Tédax (Spain's specialist bomb disposal unit) had to be involved, as the previous employee had said that he would detonate a few devices that he had installed in the building, on the occasion that he was not paid the 2,500 euros. The event took place on 2 August and the National Police cleared the building for an inspection.
Only a few days later, the man was intercepted by police officers on his way to the organisation's headquarters. Then, during a long stretch of the night of 11 August, he kept sending messages in which he alerted that some of his former colleagues would "lose their lives" if they reported him again and if they did not give him the money he was demanding, "I will bring hell to your door," warned the messages.
The magistrates' court also discovered that the offender had threatened people outside his former company. On 12 August, he also intimidated a fast food delivery assistant who had gone to his home to resolve a payment issue. The defendant slid several notes under the door warning that he had a gun, all the while shouting: "I'm going to kill you and your children and your mother. I'm going to cut your head off."
The man was finally arrested in the early hours of 14 August in a large deployment of the National Police. The operation was initiated by the reports of several people who had seen an individual with a large knife and a mask prowling around an area of tourist flats. The suspect then barricaded himself in one of the flats and threatened to blow up the building. He also threw several blunt objects from the terrace, including a container of water and bleach aimed at the officers, weights and a microwave oven, which hit an Audi parked in the street.
The police operation lasted around five hours, until officers from the GOES unit managed to gain access to the house and detain the perpetrator.
The provincial court convicted the man of a repeated offence of threats, another threat offence in relation to the home delivery case, an attack on authorities, damages and repeated breaching of a precautionary measure. The accused reached an agreement with the prosecutor's office for a reduction of the initial sentence by acknowledging his guilt. In addition, the court found that there had been a mitigating circumstance contributing to the incomplete exoneration - psychological alteration.
The sentence demands that the perpetrator serves four years in prison, during which time he will receive psychiatric treatment. He has also been fined 3,600 euros and another 4,500 euros. In addition, he will have to compensate the owner of the house where he lived for the damage caused, which amounts to 5,288 euros, as well as the owner of the damaged Audi (1,894 euros) and the neighbourhood association (187 euros).
This is a final ruling with no possibility of appeal.
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