A British expatriate and his Irish wife were subjected to a horrific attack at their home on the Costa Blanca by masked intruders who confused them with drug dealers.
They needed hospital treatment for injuries they sustained when the armed gang broke into their property in the middle of the night and assaulted them.
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The misconception was that they were hiding large quantities of cannabis resin that the criminals planned to steal.
The unnamed Briton, a school teacher, suffered a serious head wound that required 18 stitches after being pistol-whipped during the nightmarish incident. His partner also needed stitches.
The drama took place in a residential area called Torre Zegna in Lomas de Cabo Roig, part of the Orihuela Costa region south of Alicante, a popular destination for expats and vacationers.
The drama took place in a residential area called Torre Zegna in Lomas de Cabo Roig, part of the Orihuela Costa region south of Alicante, a popular destination for expats and vacationers.
The intruders, who are said to have spoken in Eastern European accents, are believed to have misidentified the house they targeted with another property the couple are understood to own nearby which had been taken over by the squatters.
The couple who were attacked, and who asked to remain anonymous “for fear or retaliation,” narrated their horrific experience to a local Spanish newspaper as part of a call for the police to strengthen their presence in the area.
They told Diario Informacion how they were awakened around 4am by the sound of their dogs barking and were attacked after going to investigate the noise and seeing four intruders carrying guns, masks and gloves climbing a wall into their back garden or indeed onto their property.
The British man recounted how a gang member hit him on the head with the butt of his gun before ordering him to fall to the ground, where he was left covered in blood from his wound.
His wife was assaulted, and also injured in the head, when she followed him to the park.
The intruders took them back to the living room and sat them on their couch while they ransacked the property.
The expatriate couple began to suspect that they were the victims of a case of mistaken identity when the men began asking about “poles” and cannabis resin.
They were forced into the street at gunpoint and forced to point to another nearby property. Diario Informacion said they owned which house the squatters had taken when they pointed to that house and suggested the intruders may have chosen the wrong place.
The men then raided this property, with the pair calculating that eight men in total were involved, including people they spotted in the getaway vehicles.
The police have not yet made any official comment on the incident, which is said to have occurred about a month ago.
It was not immediately clear this morning if any arrests had been made.
The drama the pair are caught up in is known as “vuelco” in Spanish – when drug dealers steal from others.
