A British expat man has been found guilty of manslaughter in Spain but has not been sent to jail.
Property developer Devinder Kainth, 39, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Sandro Rottman, a German citizen, at a restaurant last February in the exclusive resort of Sotogrande, near Gibraltar.
The court in Algeciras handed down a six-month suspended sentence.
Kainth discovered that Rottman, an alleged paedophile, had been taking photos secretly of Kainth’s young daughter. He approached Rottman in the resort’s Spinnaker restaurant and took Rottman’s iPad where he saw some recordings of his daughter.
In the ensuing argument, Kainth punched Rottman several times in the head.
Rottman, 43, had severe liver cirrhosis and died within minutes.
The court heard that Kainth, a work-out fanatic known in the Sotogrande area as Victor, had walked over to Rottman after finishing his meal at the restaurant at around 10pm on February 7. “He realised as he talked to Sandro that he had been taking photos of his children without his consent,” the court file reads.
“This really upset the accused and led to him shouting at Sandro that he should erase them while he demanded he explain his actions. The tense situation led to a fight in which the accused punched Sandro several times in the head”.
Judge Raquel Gómez Sancho said that Mr Rottman’s alcohol-related health problems had contributed to his death. She ruled that the punches he received “would not normally have caused a person’s death”.
In sentencing Kainth, the judge also took into account his heightened emotional state when he discovered the images.
Police revealed after Rottman's death that he was facing trial after being caught in possession of child pornography. Officers said that they had found sickening images on the German’s laptop after being called to investigate a suspected break-in at his home.
Mr Kainth may appeal against the sentence in the hope of having the suspended jail sentence replaced with a fine.
