John Hodgson, the aggressor in a violent incident that left a 23-year-old Portuguese brain dead in 2011, has been sentenced to seven years in jail.
Hodgson again failed to turn up in Portimão court which found him guilty of grievous bodily harm to Ricardo Teixeira who later died.
Hodgson, said to be a bouncer, was caught on video in Matt’s Bar in Albufeira at around 03.00am, elbowing Ricardo Teixeira who fell and suffered severe head injuries. Teixeira lay in a coma for a week in Faro Hospital where later life support machines were switched off.
Hodgson has been in the UK ever since where he is said to have been regularly reporting to British police in Kent.
This case had been delayed five times due to Hodgson’s non-appearance in court in Portugal. He returned to the UK shortly after the incident, which was caught on camera and showed Hodgson elbowing Teixeira who then fell and sustained the catastrophic injuries which left him brain dead and with no chance of recovery.
The court also ordered Hodgson to pay the victim’s parents €138,000. Parents Helena Baroque and Albino Teixeira said they would forgo the money if Hodgson was given a longer sentence.
At an earlier hearing in mid-January the owner of Matt's Bar gave evidence, stating that he was on the other side of the street when the incident happened and claimed that he recognised the man caught on video and knew him as “John.”
Hodgson can now be arrested in the UK and jailed but his Portuguese lawyer already has stated the sentence handed down is excessive and may appeal.
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That - as with Ellie Gannon,the McCann's and hundreds of others - the notion of fair treatment from Portuguese Police and Justice staff to citizens of their old Colonial foe is not an option. So most Brits just go home and campaign for Brexit.
Check out Fair Trials International for other examples. Not long ago a British fireman was hounded for years for allegedly being a violent troublemaker. As a British judge described his case - "He was given totally inadequate translation in court, no evidence it was him and his claims to not having been involved ignored". https://www.fairtrials.org/