THERE was a ‘definite failure of care’ when a father-of-two was found hanged in a prison cell in Spain, an inquest heard.

Antony Abbott, from Halliwell, died on October 23, 2015 while on holiday with his partner and two children in Benidorm.

An inquest at Bolton Coroners Court heard how he was arrested after a disturbance at the Hotel Palm Beach.

The family had been enjoying their holiday up until that point, and the inquest heard how on the night he was arrested they had been talking about their future and potentially getting married.

The jury in the inquest heard how on the night of October 22, Mr Abbott had drank a ‘high amount’ of alcohol.

At around 12.30am on October 23 an argument took place, which then escalated, between himself and his partner of nine years Catherine Abbott.

The argument took place in their room and another guest at the hotel rang the front desk following loud noises and security went to the room.

Mr Abbott was taken to the hotel lobby by a security guard where he was restrained.

The police were called and while Mr Abbott was being restrained the security guard was knocked to the ground.

Officers arrived at the hotel and he was then taken to Benidorm police station where he was admitted to custody.

The inquest was shown CCTV footage of the police custody area where Mr Abbott was kept leading up to his death, which showed him banging his head on the wall as he was searched by officers.

He was then put in a cell and left alone where a short time later he was found dead by officers.

Speaking at the inquest, Dr Charles Wilson said that marks around Mr Abbott’s neck and other evidence from the post-mortem conducted back in the UK was consistent with the death being caused by hanging.

However, the inquest heard how Mr Abbott was enjoying the family holiday and Mrs Abbott said that he had not spoken to her about wanting to kill himself.

As he was taken away by police, Mrs Abbott said that he told her he loved her and that he was sorry and that they would talk the next day.

DS Nicholas Gibson, the investigating officer in to the death, commented on the footage, stating that when the police officers discovered Mr Abbott’s body they showed ‘no urgency whatsoever’ in responding to it.

DS Gibson also spoke of a Spanish police union report, that was produced just months before Mr Abbott’s death, that made a number of recommendations to improve the safety at the Benidorm police station.

The report recommended surveillance equipment being put in place in the cells at the station; that the doors should be modified to not have bars and that there should be an officer present at all times in the custody area.

DS Gibson commented at the inquest that it appeared none of these recommendations had been carried out.

He said: “There was a definite failure of care when Tony was in custody.”

DS Gibson also said that there was ‘some suggestion’ that a police officer had been suspended and there had been disciplinary procedures at the Spanish police station as a result of Mr Abbott’s death.

He said that this was as a result of officers leaving the custody area unattended, which should not be done.

The CCTV footage showed the custody area left with no police officer in it for 18 minutes after Mr Abbott was placed in a cell.

The inquest also heard in Mrs Abbott’s statement how the following morning when she went to retrieve her partner’s possessions, a translator for Spanish police told her that Mr Abbott was ‘selfish’ and that he didn’t love her or her children.

Reports from officers read at the inquest stated that Mr Abbott was acting violent and aggressive when at the police station.

The inquest continues.