Squatter eviction company workers sentenced in Costa del Sol court

Four workers of a squatter eviction company have been convicted of coercion and injury offences to two people during an attempted eviction at a residential development in Torremolinos. The victims were not in fact squatters, but friends of the woman they were trying to evict.

The events took place at two different times, a year apart. The first incident took place on 19 July 2020. One of the victims, a young woman, was with her friend, who was actually the one illegally occupying a house.

According to the sentence, at around four o'clock in the afternoon, the convicted men, from Exit Okupacion company, showed up "with the clear intention of making the woman leave the property".

The employees began to insult the woman’s friend with derogatory phrases such as "you are shameless, a squatter, we are having a threesome", and other disparaging remarks related to her physical appearance.

Some time later, the four workers returned with the intention of evicting the squatter, although, once again, they addressed her friend, who was with her, trying to intimidate her and making gestures, according to the court ruling.

"One of them took from her, with the intention of appropriating it, a bag containing a battery charger", stated the sentence, which led to a "struggle" in which the worker gave the young woman "a strong blow to the face, causing her to fall to the ground". A friend came to the young woman's aid but she was punched in the face while another of the workers kicked her in the knee.

The judge considered that the fact that the workers claimed to be carrying out "mediation functions" does not give them "any legitimacy to use acts of intimidation, physical force or even theft of personal effects".

The young woman who was assaulted made a complaint through the lawyer Damián Vázquez, who acted as private prosecutor in the case. Her friend, who was also injured, later expanded the complaint and joined the proceedings.

The trial was held last May and the sentence was handed down on 27 June. The Court of Instruction number 4 of Torremolinos has sentenced the four workers to a fine of 360 euros each for the coercion.

One of them, the main aggressor, has also been fined 720 euros for two offences of minor injury and a further 180 euros for the theft, while his colleague, who kicked the victim, has been fined a further 180 euros for a offence of minor injury.

The court ruling also provided for the convicted parties to compensate the victims an as yet unspecified amount to be determined in the execution of the sentence.