Crowdfunding campaign launched to help the elderly man who shot dead a burglar who broke into his home in Spain

For some, his reaction was the result of fear. For others, he went too far. José Manuel Lomas, the bookseller in Spain who was convicted of shooting dead a thief who broke into his house on the La Atalaya housing estate in Ciudad Real in the summer of 2021, is now facing a serious financial problem after serving his prison sentence.

Lomas, also known as the "old vigilante", now has to pay 52,000 euros to compensate the victim's relatives - a man of Honduran origin with a history of robbery - and also pay court costs.

Lomas' home is his sole asset, and according to his lawyer, Juan Manuel Lumbreras, "selling his house would be a very big blow for him and would cause him great emotional damage because he is an old man". The 83-year-old survives on a minimum pension. In order to prevent the sale of this property, his lawyer proposed that he set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay the 52,000 euros, plus his medical and psychological care, as he suffers from a paranoid delusional disorder that makes him constantly believe that someone wants to harm him.

So far this campaign has raised more than 15,000 euros (one donor has contributed 500), but spreading the word will increase this amount. This is the hope of his lawyer, who said "we hope to raise as much as possible and any amount is welcome", adding that "José Manuel is very grateful and we ask that this campaign be shared through the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe".

Lomas was sentenced to six years and three months in prison by the provincial court of Ciudad Real when he had already been in prison for two years. Later, in 2024, the Castilla-La Mancha High Court of Justice reduced his sentence to nine months and four days in prison. Lomas has always claimed that he acted in legitimate self-defence and out of fear because the thief was carrying a chainsaw and had tried to rob his house on other occasions. He also claimed that he had been suffering from a mental disorder for some time. Some 52,000 euros is now needed by August or he will lose his home. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said his lawyer and promoter of this fundraising initiative.