A BOURNEMOUTH roofer has died in a Spanish hospital, 12 days after allegedly being thrown from a five metre high balcony near his family’s holiday home.

Stephen Mallon, 49, of Southbourne, went into a coma soon after being taken to the Carlos Haya Hospital in Malaga.

Unconfirmed reports say he was knocked unconscious when he and his teenage sons were attacked outside a pub in the small town of Competa. He was then picked up by three men and hurled over the balcony, sustaining serious head injuries, it has been claimed.

Doctors pronounced him brain dead yesterday. His wife Teresa, 40, daughter Jenny, 20, and twins Peter and Carl, 17, were at his bedside in the hospital’s intensive care unit to say their goodbyes before his life support machine was switched off.

The Spanish police’s investigation into the incident has now been upgraded to a murder inquiry, but no arrests have been made. Local newspapers in Spain say progress has been slow because witnesses have been reluctant to come forward.

A friend of the family said they were “devastated”, adding: “They said it is the worst thing imaginable to happen to them, their worst nightmare come true.

“They are still out in Spain arranging to fly him home and all they can do is cry. He put up a brave fight for 12 days and it was just too much for him. His injuries were too horrific.”

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo yesterday, Competa Mayor Jose Luis Torres called the violence an “isolated incident” and spoke of his fears that the international publicity would affect tourism in the town.

Britons make up by far the largest group of foreign residents in Competa, which has a population of just under 4,000.