On July the 20th 2008 our son Matthew went off excitedly on holiday to the resort Laganas on the Greek island of Zante. He traveled with 4 friends and two of their parents. He had the warnings, you cant but help to give ringing in his ears. Keep safe, don't do anything stupid, use the sunscreen I`ve packed for you, don't drink too much and don't on any account hire a moped. We were worried because because it was his first holiday without us but never did we think he wouldn't come home to us.

 

In the early hours of the 21st of July the first night of his holiday Matthew died on the pavement in front of the cocktails and dreams club in Laganas. It was speculated upon that he had died through excessive alcohol intake, but this has been proved not to be the case.

 

A UK Coroners inquest held on the 27th of May 2009 found that Matthew had been unlawfully killed. In an unprovoked attack whilst he was sitting at the bar (having become separated from his friends) he was seized by the door staff and dragged outside and thrown down a steep flight of metal stairs as a result of which he sustained head injuries. Not content with this the bouncers then picked him up from the bottom of the stairs and dropped him onto the marble pavement by the side of the club, a bouncer at this time was also seen to punch him, Matthew died a short time later due to the head injuries he had sustained.

 

It was noted at the inquest that Matthew was not causing any trouble and though he had had a drink his blood alcohol level though raised was not a significant factor in his death. We can only speculate as to why the bouncers attacked him, maybe it was because he was alone and the thuggish bouncers just wanted an adrenaline rush.

 

Two Greek police officers stood by whilst our son lay dying they did nothing to help and were even intimidated by the bouncers into not taking statements from the witnesses there. An ambulance took over an hour to arrive, this ambulance is described as nothing more than a small van, no serious attempt was made to revive Matthew by the ambulance staff.

 

We have had little information from the Greek authorities, and it would seem they have not bothered to investigate our sons death in any way. They also retained Matthews heart until the end of November, this would have been a reasonable thing to do if it was to be tested and would have a bearing on how Matthew died, but it never got tested and we felt we hadn't buried our son whole.  

 

We will continue in our quest to get justice for Matthew no matter what and how long it takes.