A man was found dead with his genitals inside a tuna can and slices of ham on his exposed buttocks in an airport, a development which caused some panic.
Howver, the mystery of the death has finally been solved.
According to Metro UK, Steven Allford, 51, was discovered lying face down on a bench in Malaga Airport on October 21, 2016.
The rough sleeper had been tied to the bench near the arrivals lounge and his trousers had been pulled down round his ankles.
Three men have now been jailed for two and a half years after admitting manslaughter.
James O’Byrne, 59, from Cork, Ireland and Jussi Petteri Munck, 41, and Mika Tapio Soininem, 48, both from Finland, were sentenced at a criminal court in Malaga.
A post-mortem revealed he choked to death on his own vomit after a heavy drinking session. At first, police feared Mr Allford’s death was a homophobic hate crime, but that theory gave way when it appeared he was targeted in a row over food.
Police were told he had fallouts with other men sleeping rough at Malaga Airport because he was mean about sharing food and drink with them.
O’Byrne was arrested in Algeciras, near Malaga, after officers were handed a video recorded by one of the suspects and posted on Facebook.
Judge Santiago Calvo Cervera said it had been proved the men had tied Mr Allford to the bench despite him being drunk.
He added: ‘They didn’t just tie him to the bench, something which Mr Munck checked had been done, but they filmed Mr Allford and were also laughing about his temporary helplessness.
‘They ended up putting a lit cigarette in his mouth after having put it in his buttocks and introduced his naked testicles into an empty tuna can.
‘They acted as if they were narrating a news report and posted the video on to the Facebook of Soininem, the person who filmed what was happening.
‘When they had had a good laugh, they left Mr Allford to his fate. Because of his drunkenness, and because of the fact it was almost impossible for him to move because of the plastic ties, he would end up dying after choking on his own vomit, something the accused could have easily avoided with a call to make sure Mr Allford received medical attention.’
Little is known about Mr Allford’s life and why he ended up sleeping rough at one of Spain’s busiest holiday airports. Although it is believed he was adopted as a youngster and had served time in prison in France and Spain.
He had only been in Spain for about a week before he died after a brief spell in the UK.
A source close to the case said before his killers were sentenced: ‘The images show the victim was alive when the humiliation began.
‘Steven was tied up and in the same position he was found in hours later in the footage, lying face-down on the bench, but he could be seen moving his head slightly.’