Brit tourist who raped son's friend in Magaluf hotel room jailed for four years

05 February 2024 , 10:56

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David McPaul Wigging in court this morning (Image: SOLARPIX.COM)

A British tourist who confessed to raping his son’s female friend in a Magaluf hotel room has been jailed for four years.

Spanish state prosecutors had wanted David McPaul Wigging, 43, jailed for nine years if convicted of the May 9, 2023 sex attack, but he struck a plea deal ahead of today's trial. During proceedings at the Audiencia Court in the island capital Palma this morning it was heard the fact he was "very drunk" when he attacked the victim was a "mitigating factor".

Wigging will be expelled from Spain once he has completed half of his sentence. It was earlier reported the woman, also believed to be British, told police she fell asleep in her friend's room, which had an internal door leading into his father's room. He is said to have "surprised her" in the middle of the night, while his son was still out.

David McPaul Wiggling has been jailed for four years (SOLARPIX.COM)

Prosecutors said in the two-page indictment: “In the early hours of May 9 2023 the accused, with the intention of satisfying his sexual desire, and taking advantage of the fact his victim had consumed a large amount of alcohol and was in a deep sleep on a sofa bed, got alongside her and penetrated her without her realising. As she woke up and began shouting at him to stop, he grabbed her by the arm and accelerated his rhythm of penetration until he ejaculated inside her.

“The woman subsequently went to a medical centre and was very emotionally affected and in a depressed state. Medical experts who examined her recorded she had three small bruises compatible with being grabbed as well as marks on her breast.”

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The victim, understood to have been aged around 20, fled the unnamed hotel and raised the alarm at a Civil Guard office near to the Punta Ballena party strip in Magaluf, according to local reports. Majorcan media Ultima Hora said officers took a statement from her before going to the hotel and finding the man they were looking for had already checked out of the hotel.

Wigging was held at Palma Airport in Majorca after packing his bags and trying to leave the island in the hours after the crime. He was arrested at the plane's boarding gate. As well as serving a four-year prison sentence he was also ordered to pay his victim £6,400 in compensation as part of the plea bargain deal.

Antony Clements-Thrower