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13-year sentence for Pacheco killing

01 November 2003

On 29 October 2003, ten days after a jury reached a unanimous verdict finding two bouncers, James Anglada and Mariano Romero, and a security guard, Antonio Fernández Quincoces, guilty of the unintentional killing of Wilson Pacheco, a judge in Barcelona sentenced the defendants to 13-year prison sentences.

On 27 January 2002, the Ecuadorian Pacheco was thrown into the water by James Anglada after he was chased and beaten by the three men in the Maremagnúm, a complex of bars, restaurants and shopping areas on the Barcelona pier. The incident started when Pacheco was refused entrance to a bar and an argument ensued.

The jury saw video footage made available by the port authority and by some bars that have security cameras, that showed Pacheco throw something at one of the bouncers as he left. A chase ensued and he was caught by the three men, who beat him violently using their truncheons although he was considerably smaller than them, and kicking him in the face when he lay on the floor. James Anglada subsequently threw Pacheco into the water, and he drowned. Quincoces said that "I'm not going to jump into the water and wet my mobile for a suraca (term used to refer insultingly to South Americans)" although the aggravating circumstance of racism was not admitted, as the refusal of entry to the bar was deemed to have been motivated by Pacheco's drunkenness.

The judge in the trial found that although they did not intend to kill Pacheco, they were aware that there was a high possibility that he would die once he was thrown into the water. They were also deemed to have abused of their positions of authority.

El País, 12, 20, 29.10.03.