The 45-year-old homeless man suspected of carrying out a stabbing at Majorca’s Palma Airport this week has “no memory” of the attack on a stranger who was picking up a friend
A homeless knifeman who stabbed a stranger in the neck at a busy airport this week, which descended into panic as police arrived, claims they “don’t remember anything” of the attack.
Spanish police rushed to Majorca’s Palma Airport on Tuesday night when a man who had travelled to the area to pick up an arriving friend was suddenly attacked. Police said the attacker approached the victim to ask something about his phone, when he struggled to understand, pulled out the weapon and stabbed him in the neck. In the wake of the incident a Salvadoran 45-year-old was remanded in custody.
Now a well-placed source said the attacker has no memory of the horror incident. They said: “The man arrested said he doesn’t remember anything.
“He is alleged to have gone beserk after his own phone was stolen as he was going through his bag at the airport after getting off a bus, and then going up to the first person he saw to ask him about his mobile wrongly thinking presumably it might be his.”
According to local reports, the perpetrator was arrested shortly after the shock attack while still inside the airport, while his victim was treated at the scene by an ambulance from SAMU 061. He was stabilised by medics and later transferred to a hospital to receive specialised medical attention.
Detectives investigating the incident said: “The incident happened at 10.35am on Tuesday outside the airport arrivals area next to the car park. A young man was stabbed in the neck and suffered a wound a few centimetres from the artery which required several stitches.
“The victim was walking with a friend towards the car park after having gone to meet a relative in arrivals when they were approached by a stranger. The suspect asked them about his mobile and then pounced on his victim brandishing a knife which he used to stab him in the neck.
“The young man tried to repel the attack and stop his assailant continuing to stab him, asking for help from security guards who were in the area and managed to restrain the knifeman.”
It is believed the attacker was one of the rough sleepers at Palma Airport. The victim is an Argentinian living on the island who had gone to pick up a relative. He had never met the person who came close to ending his life.
Lawyer Ivan Garcia Lopez, who is representing the accused, said: “I am working on trying to secure his release on bail.”
Local people have expressed their concern about the stabbing too and what they see as increasing crime in Mallorca. The distressing incident came following an attempted stabbing last weekend during which a knifeman was shot by police.
Officers with Spain’s National Police had shot down an unnamed individual after he allegedly tried to rob a taxi driver at knifepount in the vicinity of Gran Canaria Airport at around 4.50pm on Sunday. The suspect, a man, is believed to have pounced on the officers with the weapon, forcing them to repel the attack by force.